A New Beginning
by dkerr
Summary: Some things just never change
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: This Au fiction is unauthorised, and thje characters belong to J Whedon, Fox, UPN, Mutant Enemy.  
  
A New Beginning   
  
"Xander, this is where you are." Xander looked up to see Caridad standing beside the bus. He wiped the dip stick on a rag.  
  
"This is where I am alright."  
  
"Buffy, she is wanting to speak at you."  
  
Xander shook his head at Caridad's fractured English and gently corrected her. She frowned.  
  
"What is wrong with my English. You can understand it, si?"  
  
Xander grinned. "I can understand it bueno. Now what did Buffy want to talk at me about."  
  
Caridad shrugged. "Something about a phone call from a council that was blown up. It is all very strange."  
  
"Well, you just tell her where I am and she can come and speak at me."  
  
"I'm thinking she wants you to come to her."  
  
"Well if I don't finish with this engine, we won't be going tomorrow." Xander turned back to the engine. "So she either comes here, or she waits."  
  
Caridad ran off. Xander smiled, and replaced the dip stick into its slot.  
  
"Xander," a very annoyed voice interrupted him when he was checking the connections between the hose and the radiator. He got down and turned to see Buffy standing there. She was not wearing her happy face. "I sent Caridad to get you."  
  
"Which she did. I however was busy, and didn't see why I should suddenly be at every bodies beck and call."  
  
"I so don't have time for this," Buffy complained. I'm trying to figure out what we're gonna do when we get to Cleveland. You think its easy, figuring out how we're gonna get a place big enough for all of us. Without you going behind my back to talk to the Council, which we have nothing to do with anyway."  
  
"Well that's where you're wrong." Xander leveled an eye on Buffy. ""You're making plans for what we're gonna do in Cleveland?"  
  
"Yes, well someone has to."  
  
"I suppose that someone is you, Willow, Faith, and Giles. But not me?"  
  
"Xander," began Buffy...  
  
"No don't." Xander held up a hand "I can see it now. Xander should be kept in the dark, just like always. It's not like I expect you to change, and with all the Slayers around it's not like you really need me. So, what did you come up with?"  
  
"Well nothing, but," Buffy paused and glared at him. "Xander, we do so need you."  
  
"No you don't, at least not in the way I need to be. Which is why I took a job with the Watcher's Council."  
  
"You are so going to be sorry you made that decision." Buffy glared at Xander as he joined the group around the fire. She was definitely not happy, and hadn't been since he had told her about the job and then refused to say any more until after supper that night. "Well, we're all here. Explain yourself?"  
  
"What's there to explain Buff. They called me up. They offered me a job. I had nothing better to do so I accepted."  
  
"Job," said Willow. "But that's great. Uhhh who's the job with."  
  
"The Watcher's Council."  
  
"The Council, but I thought they were blown up."  
  
"Apparently not enough of them were," huffed Buffy. "They got back together."  
  
"The Watchers Council?" spoke one of the Slayers. "Does that mean we get new Watchers?"  
  
"No one gets a Watcher," snapped Buffy, glaring around at the girls. They just want to control us and we're better off without them." She turned back to Xander. "You hear that Xander. "Not one Slayer."  
  
"How you going to stop it Buffy?" Xander gazed levelly at her. "The Council has money, contacts and resources. We got this bus, little money, no contacts, except for what Giles can come up with. You gonna lead a war against the Council. You might want to think about that, cause stuff is happening, evil isn't gonna be taking a holiday anytime soon, and is gonna be having a field day while the Council and the Slayers try to take each other out. That what you want Buffy? Cause if you do you got two ways to go, and neither way is going to be pretty."  
  
"Oh, and what two ways are those?"  
  
"One, you move against the Council, fighting them whenever and wherever you can. To do that you're gonna need a world wide organization. To do that in time to do the least amount of damage is for Willow to mojo compliance out of as many Slayers she can gain control over. "  
  
"You said there was another way."  
  
"You locate as many Watchers as you can and Willow goes black eye and kills em all."  
  
"That's not an option Xander," hissed Buffy. "I,m surprised you even mentioned it."  
  
"Just looking at the options." Xander grinned. So frighteningly that Buffy backed off a step without even realizing it. "There is a third, less drastic option."  
  
"What would that be?"  
  
"Willow reverses the spell. Does whatever the Shadow-Men did to suppress Slayer powers. Everything goes back to the way they were. With you and Faith being the Slayers, and everybody else being potentials."  
  
"He's right B. One of the reasons I never wanted to be Boss, the one who has to make the hard decisions. We changed the world, made it better in some ways, worse in others.."  
  
"Life isn't a bowl of cherries," Xander agreed. "The pits maybe, but not cherries."  
  
"It doesn't have to be this way," insisted Buffy. "I didn't free them just to have them enslaved by the Council again."  
  
Xander sighed and dropped his head. He had one last card to play, and it was the one card he didn't want to have to play. "Willow, is your laptop all fired up, and you got that satellite thing working, for the internet?"  
  
Willow nodded, and hauled it out of her bag, and took about ten minutes to set it up. Xander handed her a piece of paper with a series of numbers.   
  
Willow typed furiously. "Got it." She paused. "Xander, this is Homeland Security. Nobodies been able to hack into it yet."  
  
Xander shrugged, and grabbed the computer, and typed in a series of alphanumeric characters. The screen blackened and came to life with a series of files. Willow watched until a series of familiar names scrolled up. Xander highlighted one name and a file opened.  
  
"What would Homeland Security have a file on Buffy? She's not a security threat."  
  
"""They don't know that, and that doesn't matter, not really. She could be seen as one. You remember the Initiative?"  
  
"Yes, but we shut that down. Riley said they weren't going to try that again."  
  
"Moot point, and that report was written by Professor Mary Walsh. Discussing what she knew about the Slayer, and seeking permission to have her up on one of their operating tables. That permission was obtained with Cabinet approval no less. Fortunately the Initiative was shut down before they could act on it." Xander paused to let that sink in. "Yep our very own government, and if our government can imagine such a thing, you can bet others will, and with all those Slayers running around you can bet someone is going to make it happen."  
  
"B-b-but I'm human...we're human."  
  
"That would matter how? Man can be just as evil as demons, maybe even more so because they have a choice, and don't underestimate the depth's a man will go to if he thinks it may come down to an us or them choice. Or to hang on to power. Or what ever else he wants."  
  
"You planning on taking over the world Buff?" Xander grinned crookedly. "Cause that's what you're gonna have to do."  
  
Buffy sank to the ground and stared into the flames. Her idea to free the Slayers had been brilliant. Even Giles had said it was. But she had been focused on the fight. She had never thought about what would happen after, and it looked like nothing had really changed at all. Sure, she had freed the Slayers, but the Council, the ones who had suppressed their powers in the first place, was still going to be there. Controlling things, pulling their strings. She hated that.  
  
"He's right B." Faith squatted down beside her. "What you did was right, but but it's a whole new world and we gotta deal.. Sides, once we're inside with the Council, maybe we can have more say with them, maybe even take them over." Faith shrugged "Bad as they are there's worse alternatives."  
  
Buffy remained silent, and after a while Faith left to rejoin Robin. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she returned.  
  
"Well Xander, congrats. You're the man. What do we do."  
  
"That's up to you Buffy," Xander smiled with relief. "The Council is not going to try and enforce the old regime. There won't be any Watchers for those Slayers, that don't want them, and Watchers will be found for those that do, and they will be assigned as soon as possible. They do have some ideas that they would like you to think about."  
  
  
  
"The Council has taken an option on the Cleveland Girls Reformatory, a sort of prison farm, or used to be a prison farm, located a few miles south of Cleveland. They're willing to run it as a Private School for Girls, beginning after the renovations have taken place. Giles would be the Headmaster supervising both normal and supernormal activities. Jordan would be the school administrator. Willow would have Watcher status, her main job would be helping to locate slayer. Her cover job, since she has some teaching experience, would be Librarian."  
  
"What would I be doing."  
  
"Janitor, Housekeeper, whatever needs done that doesn't require a teaching certificate."  
  
"Oh that's nice," Buffy smiled. "Just up my alley, with all the loser jobs I've had. What would Faith be doing."  
  
"She'd be running the Cafeteria. She's had a lot of experience in prison."  
  
"Which means that they'll never let me work there."  
  
"As long s you keep your nose clean they will."  
  
"Don't matter I got a record, that's pop up sooner or later."  
  
"Already taken care of."  
  
"So Xander," wondered Willow. "You haven't told me what you are going to be doing."  
  
"They didn't say," Xander shrugged. "I,m betting it'll have something to do with a hammer." 


	2. This and That part one

Disclaimer is in part one As usual I own nothing.  
  
This and that.  
  
"This is so not what I wanted for the rest of my life." Buffy walked into the office Xander was setting up for himself, and took a seat. Her eyes took in the battered gray metal desk, graffiti carved chairs, green metal filing cabinets and the Mac Plus that sat on top of it. "Not very high on the food chain are you?"  
  
"Huh," Xander squeezed out from behind the filing cabinet. "Oh Buff, didn't see you come in, and what's this about a food chain?"  
  
"Oh nothing," said Buffy, gloomily. "Just thinking that the Watcher's first pick is stuck in the basement."  
  
"Well, I am the custodian, at least officially." Xander took a seat and swung hi feet on top of the desk. "Where would you expect the janitor to have his place, if not the basement."  
  
"Well, I thought there would be more books, you know. The Watchers jam on books."  
  
"Which is true. When have you ever seen Giles out of range of a book." Xander grinned. "Besides, Willow's got this terrific library thing going, with Giles avid help, so there's no need for me to have another. Also, I rather think a library won't figure much in my job description."  
  
"Which is what? You haven't been very sharing on the details."  
  
"Which would be because they never told me. Not really, so I was thinking of bringing it up at the next scooby meeting, which would be tonight." Xander paused and decided to change the subject. "When you came in, you said something about this not being what you wanted for your life."  
  
"Hey, I thought you said you didn't see me come in."  
  
"Which is true, but I did hear words. Muffled words but words. So spill, what was it you wanted for the rest of your life?"  
  
"Buffy shrugged, "less slaying, less Council, more freedom."  
  
"You did release all those Slayers. That's gotta help."  
  
"Yeah, and handed them over to the Watchers. I hoped that I could at least free them from that."  
  
"Some of them won't need Watchers, some of them will." With a thud, Xander's boots hit the floor, and he pulled a file out of a bottom drawer.  
  
"Jasmine Fuller." Xander passed a glossy picture of a tallish girl with black ponytail and leather clothes, across the desk to Buffy. "Sixteen, ran with gangs most of her teen life. See, take have seems to be her motto, something she backed up with her fists." Xander looked at the dossier. "Jasmine had taken a fancy to a jacket a younger girl was wearing, and was negotiating the transfer when Willow did her thing with the mojo. Girl's still in the hospital. Fortunately, Jasmine was as shocked by what she did as was the witnesses and didn't struggle when the cops got there. Jasmine is in court today, facing some years in juvie, which she would go to if the Council hadn't sent in a lawyer to make a deal with the Judge and the D.A. Jasmine pleads not guilty, she faces trial, maybe as an adult which could mean serious jail time. She pleads guilty and the Judge is convinced of her remorse, she finishes her schooling here, gets tons of community service, and we get to guide her down the right path."  
  
"So, we get the hard cases. The one with attitude."  
  
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Who better to help them? We've already been through the fire."  
  
"I guess." Buffy got up and left, leaving Xander to whatever he was doing when she'd first entered. Which he was about to do when the phone rang.  
  
"So, who's coming." Collen waited beside the front door of the red brick school building flanked by Caridad and Bridget. An approaching cloud of dust was rapidly approaching.  
  
"Jasmine Fuller," said Xander. "Now, she's likely to be confused with an attitude, not necessarily a good thing. Be nice."  
  
The assorted Slayers looked at Xander as if he'd grown a third head, and Buffy grinned from her position, leaning against a wall.  
  
It wasn't long before a black and white police car baked to a halt, and a police officer, a man dressed in a trey suit emerged.  
  
"Mr. Harris." Grey suit aproached the young man." "I'm Mr. Wellman, the lawyer. As you know, the deal was accepted and Jasmine is, er, in the car. But, before we can hand her over, so to speak, there are formalities and papers to sign."  
  
Formalities and paper signing over, Mr. Wellman walked over to the car and opened the left rear seat door. Allowing a tall girl to get out.   
  
"Your name, it is Jasmine?" Caridad was the first to address the new comer, after the black and white had driven off with the police officer, who really hadn't said very much of anything, and Mr. Wellman, a broad smile plastered on her face. "It is a beautiful name, I think."  
  
"Then you can have it," Jasmine told her. She shouldered her past a now frowning Caridad, muttering. Caridad stood thinking.  
  
Then moving fast she caught up to Jasmine and spun her around. "You call me a SPIT? That is not being very nice, I don't think."  
  
Jasmine stared back with widened eyes. Then the eyes narrowed, and she broke Caridad's grip. "I called you a SPIC, girl. Now why don't you wander off somewhere. Don't talk to me until you've learned to speak English." Once again, Jasmine turned her back and started to move away.  
  
This time she landed on her back, staring up at an annoyed Caridad, who clearly informed her that her back was not wet.  
  
"Girls," shouted Buffy. She shot an annoyed look at Xander, before shouldering her way through the growing crowd of excited Slayers. "That's enough" She got in between the two.  
  
"Did you not hear what she was saying to me," demanded Caridad.  
  
"I heard and I'll deal with it." Buffy glared at the girls. "Find an elsewhere to be before I find one for you."  
  
The girls scattered, leaving Buffy to help Jasmine to her feet.   
  
"Get your stuff together," growled Buffy. 


	3. Xander's Role, Dawn's new Job

Disclaimer – I own nothing.  
  
Xander's role.  
  
"So, Rona says you wanted to see me. Just couldn't wait for more of the Xand-man eh?" Xander snared an empty seat, and glanced around at the new library, and at the rolling eyes around him. Then back at the Library. "Good job Will, like the books shelved and indexed, kind a surprised you didn't include a computer or two."  
  
"Oh, I have a line of them against the wall, behind the far shelf. Keeps them out of the way, besides there is a computer lab on the floor above." Willow looked askance at Xander. "Not enough of you eh, well you have been keeping rather to yourself."  
  
"Been kind of busy."Xander grinned. "You know custodial stuff. Washing floors, walls, that kind of thing.. Also setting things up for my other job."  
  
"You mean the one where Giles has to report to you?" The look Xander was getting from Buffy was definitely frosty.  
  
"Giles isn't gonna be reporting to me as he is going to send me copies of his daily logs." Xander raised an eyebrow. "There is a difference you know." He turned to face the silent Watcher. "You will be typing them up on your computer won't you?"  
  
Giles nodded. "I would have thought then means by which I kept my log would be my choice, however if I must I will type it."  
  
"Great, then when you have finished it, just shoot a copy to my computer over the net." Xander paused, and look over at Willow. "Um, I know there's a lot of cables attached to my computer,. You sure it works."  
  
"It works," Willow assured him. "There wouldn't be so many cables if you'd use a modern computer, like I wanted you to, instead of that ancient Macintosh." Willow rolled her yes. "I remember when Xander and I found the first Mac model and a group of disks. It was in a garbage pile. I told him to leave it but no, he had to take it home. I never found out what he did with it."  
  
"I used it, whenever i wanted to escape my parents, which was pretty much all the time, but couldn't get out of the house. I became quite good at it, taught myself Apple Basic, played games on it, had lots of fun."  
  
"You taught yourself Basic," asked Willow astonished. "But you marks in Computer Class. They weren't all that good, I know, I gave you some of them, remember?"  
  
"All part of the Xander charm," Xander told her with a goofy grin and a waggle of eyebrows. "Hang back with the crowd and you don't get noticed as much."  
  
"Which still doesn't explain why Giles has to send reports to you," huffed Buffy.  
  
"Not just Giles," Xander said. "All of the Watchers will be sending me there logs, just the parts that deals with Slaying. All of it, coming through my little under appreciated Mac Plus."  
  
"That's impossible," protested Willow. "That Macintosh, even fully tricked, isn't fast enough for the Internet."  
  
"Which would be why I'm not using the Internet." Xander grinned. "Because the Internet while a world wide phenomenon is not available everywhere in the world. But phone, radio and land line, is pretty much universal. So I got a small Citadel board set up on my Mac. A Watcher finishes his log, detailing slayer activities, dials his closest node, which is also running a Citadel BBS, and uploads it. I got nine nodes all round the world, with more being added later if needed. Between one and two, our time, these nodes will phone up my Mac, and pass on the logs."  
  
"And you'll do what with them?"  
  
Xander shrugged. "Analyze them, look for anything in common, tie everything into a big picture."  
  
"Sort of like a profile of what the baddies are up to," said Dawn excited. "I can see it now. You'd know what's happening everywhere."  
  
"It does seem like a worth while project," said Giles. "I just don't see the efficacy."  
  
"That's because the Council is trying to do things differently. Instead of running everything out of England, they've divided the world into nine zones. Each zone acts in a sort of semi-independent way, but they sent me their reports so that if I see something Zone one is doing that might impact on what's happening in zone three, I can give them a heads up on it."  
  
"So, the Council doesn't get all the reports anymore."  
  
"Actually they do. Along with a summary of the highlights."  
  
"I see," mused Giles. "That could be a lot of work. There are, after all, several thousand Watcher-Slayer combinations or will be."  
  
"Which is why I've got the go ahead to hire some help. Dawnster, you up to the challenge. Pay's crappy, but better than you'd get slinging hash at the local Doublemeat equivalent."  
  
"So what would I have to do?"  
  
"Well, initially not too much. Printouts would be made of the logs as they come in, separated, filed etc. There'd be a lot of that, but when things get busy you'd have to help with the analyzing, summarizing, reporting. That and special projects. Got one now."  
  
"I really don't think," started Buffy. She paused then continued. "Dawn should get too involved. She should have as normal a life as possible."  
  
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Buffy, this is normal for me."  
  
Buffy opened her mouth then closed it again. There was nothing about that statement she could argue with. Not and come up on the side of the angels.  
  
"Besides," added Dawn. "It's not like I'll be fighting or anything."  
  
Buffy wisely kept her mouth shut. She knew how to pick her fights and she was fairly sure she wouldn't win this one. Besides, she didn't want to screw up the no fighting part. She nodded.  
  
"Cool," cried Dawn happily. "So Boss, what do I do?"  
  
"Find the Garden of Eden." 


	4. Dawn gets things off her chest

On a suckage scale of one to ten, this was about a five hundred..  
  
"Buffy, she is not happy with you, no?" Caridad at all the red boxed computers, stacked on three shelvees along one wall, and the twelve inch monitors piled along one other.   
  
"Buffy, she is not happy with me, no." Dawn glared at the computers. "What does she think I can do with these anyway? Who uses Apple IIc's anyway?"  
  
"Throw them in the dumpster," Caridad suggested. "After all it is one option she offered. Then Xander can be making this into the room for you."  
  
"Yeah, banished to the basement," said Dawn. "Besides, that's what she expects me to do, and I so do not want to do what she expects."  
  
"I do not want her to be kicking me in head again, during practise." Caridad wandered over to a large cardboard box marked Miscellaneous," and looked in. "What is this being?"  
  
Dawn pulled out a coil of wire. "You know, this lookes like the wire Willow was stringing around when she was putting Xander's computer on the network." She grabbed another, smaller cable and picked it up. This one was fatter, and was connected to a device that she fitted the end of the network cable to. "I bet they tried to make a network with these."  
  
"For why? They do not even have hard drive."  
  
Dawn pulled one of the computers out of it's box. "See," she fitted the round end of the cable into a plug in on the back of the computer. "This must be a modem cable, cause there's a little picture of a phone by the plug. That's what they were doing, making a network with these computers, and we can do it too. We can each have one in our rooms, and chat with each other and ..."  
  
"Can we do the internet, cause that would be cool. Then I would not have to wait to email my brother in Spain. That would be good, no?"  
  
"That would be good yes," Dawn paused. ""I don't know if you can do web pages, but email, I would have to ask Willow, but I think you can."  
  
"Good. What can I do?"  
  
"Find out how many cables and connectors there are in there. I need to see Willow, and then Xander." Dawn grabbed a modem cable and a connector from the box, and ran out of the room."  
  
"It might work," Willow looked dubiously at the cable and connector. "But why would you want to? It isn't like anyone is going to want to use them. "She then glanced at Dawn. "I thought she wanted you to throw those computers out."  
  
"Which I'm not doing, and with the right programs you can do your homework with them, and other stuff, and I am so not going to do what Buffy wants me to do. It's not like she's my mother."  
  
"No she's not, but she is your Guardians she is going through a hard time, what with losing Spike and all."  
  
"Yeah, whatever." Dawn turned back to the computer she was using in the lab. She was just reaching for her pad and paper when she was roughly grabbed and anf found her staring into angry Willow eyes.  
  
"You ungrateful little wretch. Buffy busts her butt trying to keep you safe. To keep the world safe for ungrateful little wretches like you. You, you especially. She gave her life for you and the least you can do is make it a little easier for her." Willow paused to let it sink in. "Now you march back downstairs and you start throwing those computers out."  
  
"NO!!"  
  
Willow's eyes widened.  
  
"I WILL NOT THROW THOSE COMPUTERS OUT AND IF YOU OR BUFFY DO THEN I'M GOING TO LIVE WITH DAD."  
  
"Dawn, you can't you were given to Buffy..."  
  
"I'M NOT A THING TO BE GIVEN OR DISPOSED OF WHEN IT SUITS YOU. I'm a person, even the monks said so. Do you know what it's like to know that you've only lived three years, yet have the memories of a sixteen year old. To remember things from my childhood. Things that I can remember being happy about, birthday parties, thing's Mom did for me and Buffy did for me and things I did for them and know that they never HAPPENED. Dawn took a ragged breath and continued. "Buffy misses Spike. WELL SO DO I. He was the ONLY ONE, except for maybe Xander, that accepted me for what I am. A PERSON. Not some THING that was imposed on you. And Buffy tried to keep me from him except when she NEEDED him to protect me."  
  
"Dawn, Buffy loves you. We alldo."  
  
"Didn't stop you from trying to kill me last year."  
  
Willow reacted like she had been slapped.  
  
"DAWN. THAT IS ENOUGH!"   
  
Both Willow and Dawn turned to see an enraged Slayer stalking up the aisle. "I could hear you three rooms away," Buffy growled. "You know Willow didn't mean it. You know what she was going through. She's done more than enough to redeem herself. Now apologize."  
  
"Oh, you're big on the redemption thing aren't you," Dawn spat. "As long as you got to decide what was enough. Did it even occur to you to ask what I think?" Dawn titterd. "Oh, she didn't MEAN to kill me. It was the only way she could get to the POWER, which was what she wanted. Too bad it was ME that had it. Well, guess what sis. I still got the power and Glory and Willow were only the first ones to try to get it."  
  
"What do you mean the first ones," demanded Buffy.  
  
"Are others," began Willow.  
  
"Yes other's," Dawn interrupted. She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself. "I've been feeling things, like probes. Magick probes. At firsst I though it was the First, maybe it still is. But the magick doesn't feel right, like hers. Not that her magick was right but you know what I mean."  
  
"You can feel magick," Willow asked, amazed.  
  
"What," Dawn looked at her. "You think I haven't learned anything, doing research. Some of it was for me, and I learned enough to recognize magick when I feel it, and to recognize your magick signature. So don't go trying anything without talking to me first.cause I can get my deflector shields up fast, and I'm not sure what'll happen when I do."  
  
"But I wouldn't," Willow looked hurt.  
  
"If Buffy told you to you would." Dawn sighed, and slumped on her stool. "Look, maybe I can accept that Willow didn't really mean to kill me, I loved Tara too, though not in the same way, but I'm gonna be the key for the rest of my life and I can't always depend on you being around to protect me, so I gotta learn to do it myself. If it means taking a job that puts me closer to people, like the Council, or others that you don't like, then that's what it takes, and if it means doing it in LA, then that's what I'll do, too."  
  
Dawn turned to face the computer. "Now, if you don't mind, I got work to do." She grabbed her pen and paper,  
  
"I'm not finished Dawn."  
  
"Later Buffy, or we can talk long distance over the phones. Your choice."  
  
Buffy stared at her sister, her mouth hanging open, ready to say something. A hand touched her shoulder.  
  
"Later Buffy," Willow said. "When things calm down a bit."  
  
"So," Cardida said, when Dawn got back to the room. She had finished straightening out the cables, and had even hauled two computers out of their boxes, set them up with monitors, and hooked them up. "You are finding what you want?"  
  
"Yeah, I found it," Dawn muttered placing some disks on the table. "Prodos, Appleworks, Kermit-64, so let's get this hooked up. There's not gonna be a server, but we should be able to get one computer talking to another."  
  
"Computers talk?" Caridad looked surprised. "At home, in Spain, in the village where I was born and lived until Mr. Giles came to take me to America, we do not have talking computers."  
  
"Well not really talk," said Dawn. "Here, put this disk into the computer and turn it on. There's other programs, but essentially, the Apple will think it's talking through it's modem."  
  
Caridad did as instructed, and withing a few minutes, both girls were chatting with each other over the simple two computer network.  
  
Aftyer half an hour, Dawn stood up and stretched. "I really should go and apologize to Willow?"  
  
"Apologize," quieired Caridad. "What are you being to apologize for?"  
  
"I had a blow up at her, and things got rather loud," said Dawn. 'Buffy was there too."  
  
"I am thinking I do not want to train with her today." 


	5. Andrew and Dawn talk

Buffy rolled out of bed the next morning to the sounds of frenzied activity in the room next to hers. She hastily looked in to see Dawn throwing things into a suitcase.  
  
"Dawn, what are you doing?"  
  
"Going to L.A.," snapped Dawn. "I already phoned Dad. He says I can come."  
  
"Going to L.A." Buffy struggled to find something to say. "but...But...," her voice trailed off as Dawn turned a tear streaked face towards her.  
  
"Willow tried getting to me with her magick, I don't know what she was trying to do, but I'm sure it was for my own good." Dawn dumped another pile of clothes in the suitcase. "I can't do this Buffy. I don't want to leave you, or live with Dad, but I can't do this. Not if I got to worry about Willow using her magic on me."  
  
"But it's Willow. She wouldn't do anything that would.. you know that?"  
  
"Do I?" Dawn glared at her sister. "I told her yesterday that I could shield, sense her magick. I told her I didn't know what would happen if I had to, if someone did try and I had to put them up. Well, she did try, and it wasn't just a probe. She was trying to get in and do what she was going to do before I could get my shields up. Didn't work though?"  
  
"Willow, did something happen to Willow?"  
  
Dawn stared at Buffy. "I don't know Buffy. Why don't you go see."  
  
Buffy found Willow seated at a table in the Library, surrounded by stacks of books. She looked like hell. Bleary eyes, traces of a nosebleed. Dishevelled hair.  
  
"What happened," Buffy asked.  
  
"B-Buffy," Willow stammered. "I just wanted to keep Dawn safe, and I thought that if I could figure out where these attacks were coming from then we could trace them the next time and .. well stop them." Willow looked miserable. "I just wanted to keep her safe.'  
  
"What did you do," Buffy sighed and took a seat, placing her head in her hands.  
  
"I tried putting a spell on her, not a big one, one that would tell me when she was being probed. I almost had it but her shields kicked in too soon. I wasn't expecting it and it through me for a loop." Willow paused as a thought hit her. "But, how did you know?"  
  
"Dawn was packing when I got up," Buffy said, without lifting her head. "She's going to L.A. She's already called Dad, and he said she could."  
  
"L.A.," gasped Willow rising from her seat. "I'll go talk to her. Maybe if I explain..."  
  
"Brat's not gonna listen to you Red," said a new voice. Faith stepped out of the stacks. "Not after telling you to back off yesterday and you going ahead anyway. You'd be wasting breath."  
  
"Faith," snapped Willow, "what do you...how did you.... does everyone know?"  
  
"About what you did, nope. About the words you'n Dawn had yesterday? Loud noises, farm full of girl's with slayer-hearing, you do the math." Faith grinned. "Brat's growing up, learning to fend for herself. Gotta admire that in her."  
  
"I suppose you have a better idea/"  
  
"Maybe," Faith straddled a chair. "She needs a good talking and listening to."  
  
"Once again in English."  
  
"Something neither of you are very good. What Dawn needs is someone to lay things out for her, explain the sitch, and then let her talk, spell out what bugs her, and listen to her. Really listen to her, and take what she has to say into consideration. Not just dismiss it because she's just a kid. Half the problem will be solved with the listening to her."  
  
"I could do that," said Willow.  
  
"Other half of the problem will be solved by her listening to you," Faith sad. "Somehow, I don't think she's in much of a mood to listen to you, Red, or to B. Right now, you're the bad guys."  
  
"So how do we become not the bad guy?" Buffy was listening despite herself. "She's already packed and ready to go."  
  
"But she's still here which gives us some time. Be a while before she can get into town, buy a ticket, or even for Hank to get one to her. So, we got a little bit of time. It'll be dicey, cause she's feeling all betrayed and from where I sit, she's got reason to. So, you chill, and I'll see if I can find someone to talk to her."  
  
"You mean you're not going to?"  
  
"We got history, Buffy and I, and I'm thinking that'll stand in the way."  
  
"Whatcha doing?" Andrew poked his head into Dawn's work room to see her poking at a strange looking boxy type computer thing. "Is that an Apple IIgs?" Cause if it is that's cool. My Uncle had one one, and I used to play games on it which was cool, cause it had a colour monitor and everything. did I say it was the coolest thing?"  
  
"Yes Andrew you did say that it was cool." Dawn looked sideways at him. "II suppose Buffy sent you."  
  
"Well actually no, cause I never saw Buffy today so she couldn't have sent me."  
  
"So what are you doing here?"  
  
:Just wondering what you were doing." Andrew waited while Dawn scribbled some notes, and clicked the mouse a couple times. "So what are you doing?"  
  
"Well I was going to use this IIgs as a server for the girl's network, but I guess I won't be able to do that. I'm going to L.A."  
  
"Aren't they using the Network?" Andrew pondered. "Cari said you and she got computers in all the rooms and everything, with cables that kind of stuff."  
  
"Yeah, the networks working, but they can only talk to somebody, and everybody gets to read the messages, cause it goes into every computer, and it's all so bollixed up."  
  
"So, you're trying to get this computer working as a server. My Uncle never tried that. Course, my Uncle's computer didn't have much memory, so he probably couldn't do it. Even if he wanted to. Which he didn't cause he only had one computer, so didn't need to..."  
  
"Andrew," Dawn interjected. "Is there a point to this."  
  
"No," Andrew said disconsolately. "But maybe you could do something like what Xander did. You know with that funny looking computer he has."  
  
  
  
"A bulletin board system?" Dawn's eyes lit up. "That could so work, okay not as fast as a real network, but it could. Andrew, I don't know how to thank you."  
  
"Well, if you have another of these Apples, cause I really liked my Uncle's computer, you know, when I was a kid, and if there's another one, I wouldn't mind having one. That is if you don't mind."  
  
"No, I found three of them, I wanted one for the server, and one I want for myself, so you can have the other one." Dawn paused as she realized what she was saying, thinking. Andrew saw an opportunity.  
  
"They really do love you, you know."  
  
"They DID send you."  
  
"No, it was, uh, Faith who talked to me. Honest, Buffy doesn't even know I'm here. But she doesn't want you to go, live in L.A., away from her, and she's scared that you will, and she doesn't know what to about it."  
  
"Big surprise. Besides, she's the Slayer. Slayers don't get scared."  
  
"Slayer's get scared. They got to fight monsters and demons and things, and other stuff. Stuff like everyday living which can be scary enough. Maybe even scarier. Cause you can't just slay it or kick it, or anything like that."  
  
"So Buffy's scared I'm leaving. Well what can I do about it?"  
  
"Talk to her, giver her a chance." Andrew shrugged. "Sometimes, you can spend a lifetime trying to find something that is real. Something that can be your's, which is what I did. Going to school, trying to make that real for me, and failing, and then there was the Trio. They accepted me and for a time that felt real, though it wasn't really real at all though it felt like it was. But what you have with Buffy, that's real and you may never find something like it again."  
  
"Yeah so real," muttered Dawn. "So real that I'm just something to be protected, kept out of the way. I'm the key. A target, I have to learn how to protect myself, not to be protected. So real that she banished me to the basement."  
  
"Not banished, but," Andrew looked around the room. "Not all that bad an idea."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why do demon's like living in caves, sewers, places like that?"  
  
"Cause they're demons. That's where they're supposed to live."  
  
"But that also means they're living underground. Which means they're surrounded and covered by earth, and that has magick blocking stuff. So anyone trying to magick you, particularly from a distance, maybe couldn't do much."  
  
"Yeah but Willow's right here, and it's not like I'm underground. Just in some dank old basement."  
  
"Sand, gravel, water." Andrew shrugged. "Should do the trick, and wards can help." A smile passed across Andrew's lips. "So that's what happened to Willow."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well you have these deflector shields, or at least that's what the girls were saying last night, ad Willow looked like something the cat dragged in and out and in and out, well you get the picture. Really bad. " Andrew looked at Dawn. "Willow tried to magick you didn't she, and your deflector shield rebounded it back at her and she got zapped. I don't think she'll be trying that soon."  
  
"She's not really hurt is she?"  
  
Andrew shrugged. "She'll get over it."  
  
You don't think she'll try magicking me again?"  
  
"Not if what I saw this morning is any indication. She got a good dose of her own medicine, and I know its wrong to think that maybe she deserved it, but she did kill one of my few friends and well, he might have been a rotten person, and maybe he did deserve to die for what he did to Tara and to Buffy, but he didn't deserve to die the way he did." Andres gulped and wiped away a tear. "Look, I can't tell you what to do or not to do. Just be careful, that what you find to replace this is as real as what you're losing." Andrew stood. "I'll just go get my computer now, and go." 


	6. Andrew, Dawn, Redemption, Watcher

"Buffy, she's the key, we have to keep her safe."  
  
Andrew slipped quietly into the Library and slid inta seat at the table. He had deposited the computer into the Cafeteria, and had, as requested, come straight here. Only to find Buffy deep into an argument with Willow.  
  
"We can't afford to let her get away with this. You have to let me put a leash on her, so we know where she is. It's the only way we can know where she is, keep her safe."  
  
"Willow," Giles was tired, and he'd hoped that Willow had learned something. "There are certain flaws I don't think you are aware of. One, for such a spell to work, you would continuously have to hone it, which would be a constant distraction. Powerful you might be but it would sap your strength. Also, should the leash be found, and your attention diverted, even momentarily, say by an attack on the school, or elsewhere, it would be relatively easy to break that leash, and reweave it so that someone else is in control."  
  
"Control," sqwakked Willow. "I just want to know where she is so we can keep her safe. Not control her."  
  
"The purpose of a leash control Will," chimed in Xander. "And that way lies dark veiny scary Willow."  
  
"But I'm sure I could," Willow began before she was interrupted.  
  
"No!" Everyone seemed surprised that it was Andrew that had spoken.  
  
"Andrew," snapped Buffy. "You stay out of this.  
  
"No, I won't cause Faith asked me to talk to Dawn and I did, and it looks like I needn't have bothered, cause it didn't matter that I did cause you are going to do what you want and what she wants doesn't matter."  
  
"I suppose yyou know what she wants?"  
  
"She wants to be safe. She wants to be safe here with Buffy and Xander and Mr. Giles, even with Willow. But deep down she can't forget that there were two people that tried killing her for her power and one of them was Willow."  
  
"What, wait, I'm not after her power, and anyway that was when ...besides I more than redeemed myself for that? How long do I have to keep paying?"  
  
"Good question." Andrew smiled wryly. "I helped you save the world, but you don't trust me. Not fully, and I didn't even try to destroy the world. Willow did and everything's all okay. Maybe it depends on who the redeemer is, or who decides that that person has done enough redemption type things, but that's not the issue. Saving the world is one thing. A good thing, but we're not talking about that, or you nearly destroying the world, but what you did to Dawn. Did you even apologize to her?"  
  
Every eye turned to Willow, who grew as red as her hair. "I, uh...uh..."  
  
"You didn't, did you?" Willow shook her head and Andrew forged on. Usually he wasn't this brave, but something in him was pushing him to do this, and, secretly, he was enjoying putting Willow on the spot. "That's okay, she's just a kid, not worthy of an apology, not even after you tried to kill her. So not something she's going to get over with, not soon anyway, the trying to kill her, not the apology, maybe even the apology too. She might be able to live with it, push it way down, but it's always going to be there, and when you just merrily go ahead and magick her that kind of reinforces the thought that you're one of the people she has to watch out for."  
  
"Wait," Xander piped in. "Dawn told you all this?"  
  
"No, but sometimes I can put two and two together and comes up with all the right pieces." Andrew glanced at Buffy. "Dawn wants to stay, she will sta, I think. But if Willow uses magick on her, you're going to lose her."  
  
"Okay, we'll find some other way to keep her safe." Buffy looked at Willow. "You have to promise me that you won't use magick on Dawn. Not unless it's absolutely necessary and especially not without checking with me first."  
  
"Buffy," protested Willow.  
  
"Willow," Buffy was adamant. "You're my friend, the best friend I ever had, but Dawn's my sister, part of me. You so don't want to make me choose."  
  
Buffy didn't say what the choices were, but nobody had anydoubt as to what they were. Or what Buffy's choice would be.  
  
"I promise," said Willow with a sigh.  
  
"Good," smiled Buffy. "Now we need to figure out a non-magickal way of keeping Dawn safe."  
  
"I already told her that sleeping in the basement might help," said Andrew. Cause earth helps dampen the transmission of magick."  
  
"Well that's a start," said Xander. "I can have that room slapped into shape in a jiffy, day, two, at most. Um, that is if she agrees."  
  
"I think she will," said Andrew, "at least when she feels, uh, under attack, and I could maybe get her a warding stone which I could make into a pendant, she could wear, that would help ward off any attacks." Andrew paused. "They would at least let her get her shields up faster."  
  
"How soon could you get this, uh, warder stone."  
  
"I could order one over the internet, a week."  
  
"Not soon enough," Buffy grumbled. "Okay, any other ideas?"  
  
Xander looked at Giles. "You want me to say or do you?"  
  
"Say what," demanded Buffy.  
  
Giles polished his glasses. "The Watchers Council would, er, like to have a Watcher assigned to Dawn. Because of her, ah, unique qualities."  
  
"You mean they want to get their claws into her."  
  
"That too," said Xander. "But you can't say it's not a bad idea. This Watcher would primarily be responsible for helping keep Dawn safe. There's the added plus that we get input into who her Watcher is going to be."  
  
"Andrew," came a voice from near the doorway. Everyone looked to see Dawn standing there.  
  
"If I gotta have a Watcher, it's going to be Andrew."  
  
Andrew sat dumbfounded .  
  
"You have got to be kidding." Buffy was outraged. "There is no way that I'm gonna let Andrew be your Watcher."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because of what he did. He's got a long ways to go before he redeems himself."  
  
"What has he done that is so worse than what anyone here has done?"  
  
"Dawn, how can you ask that?" Buffy was truly amazed. "For a year he was evil, he killed a man."  
  
"Xander killed three with that music demon thing, Giles killed one, that I know of, Willow killed two, and the only reason you didn't kill is because Faith survivied and you were going to feed her to a vampire." Dawn paused, and looked around the table. "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." Dawn took a breath. "Someone said something about that once."  
  
"Dawn, what has gotten into you."  
  
"I'm scared Buffy. I've got all this power in me and theirs other people trying to get it, and I need to feel safe."  
  
"I'm doing the best I can to make you feel safe."  
  
"I know that Buffy, and that's what's making this so hard. But you've got this whole new hellmouth thing and all these new slayers, and your other job, and I don't feel safe, especially with Willow, with what she did. She didn't even ask, course I'm just a kid and I guess you don't need to ask, but it would have been kind of nice and I don't feel safe. I'm just scared that when the time comes I'll have to watch you die all over again and I don't want to do that and maybe if I have a Watcher that won't happen and I'll be safer or at least feel safer and..." Dawn ran out of breath. She took a few deep breaths. "Besides, I think Andrew understands what it like to be me, more than any of you do."  
  
"That doesn't matter, Dawn. Even if I let him, the Council wouldn't accept him as a Watcher. He was evil." Buffy turned to Xander. "Tell her."  
  
Xander looked uncomfortable. Buffy's jaw dropped. Andrew was stunned.  
  
"You have got to be kidding," Buffy exclaimed. "Andrew spent a year working against us. He was evil, well not exactly the big bad, but definetely on the dark side. He was part of the group that killed Tara and shot me, and they want him to be a Watcher. Just how crazy is this?"  
  
Xander shrugged as if in apology. "Not my first choice, but the Council thinks his demon knowledge might be useful." Xander scowled. "The First really knocked them for a loop, and their still trying to come up with the damage. Andrew may have worked on the dark side for a while, but as evils go, he was hardly more than a pimple, except to us. Not that that mattered."  
  
"They were going to make him a Watcher without talking to us? Even if I did by the redempted thing, which I don't, he hasn't had near the training."  
  
"Which is why, under normal circumstances, Andrew wouldn't have been more than a Researcher. But these aren't normal times and we helped see to that. So they're gonna assign a Slayer to him and put him somewhere quiet."  
  
"No," yelped Buffy. "He needs to be somewhere he can be supervised. We can't..."  
  
"We don't get a choice," snapped Xander. "What are you going to do Buffy? Slay him?" The atmoshere tensed, and everyone stared at each other. Finally Buffy sighed and slumped.   
  
"It's not right."  
  
"No it's not," agreed Xander, "but we gotta deal. So, Andrew," Xander shifted his focus. "You wanna be a Watcher?"  
  
"A Watcher, that would be keen," Andrew paused. "That is if you think I can be cause I'm not real sure."  
  
"Wonderful," muttered the Slayer. "He doesn't think he's ready."  
  
"We'll," Xander glanced at Buffy. "I'll help all I can, it's not going to be easy, but you can do it."  
  
Buffy couldn't take any more. "He can be Dawn's Watcher, if they insist on making him one." She started to the door. "At least he'll be here where I can keep an eye on him." 


	7. Andrew chooses a weapon of choice

Disclaimer in part one  
  
Andrew finds a weapon of choice.  
  
"I said kick,' buffy raged. "Now try it again."  
  
Andrew tried again and this time he landed flat on his back.  
  
"You're not trying," Buffy shouted at him. "How can you protect my sister if you can't fight."  
  
"Give it up B," Faith walked out into the center of the room, from the bleachers where she'd been watching. "Some people just don't have it in them. Won't fight, not even to save their own life."  
  
"Faith stay out of it. He has to learn to fight."  
  
"You may teach him to do a passable job o' going through the motions." Faith circled Andrew. Then deliberately telegraphing her moves and moving slower than she'd watch Andrew do, she made her move. Andrew made an attempt at blocking her, but she easily got through, knocking him back down on to the mat. "You'll never teach him to fight. Best let him find his own way, else the big bad is gonna be that much more annoyed when it finishes off Andrew here and is ready for Dawn."  
  
"Yeah like how?"  
  
"Damn B, I don't know. But he was part of the gang that stymied you and the scoobs for most of a year. Course, you're a Slayer, built for action not thinking. Not that you don't think but come on, that's what you have Giles and Willow for. Frees you for doing what comes natural. Fighting. Which, for Andrew, just ain't natural. Never has been never will be, I'm guessing. There's a better way."  
  
"And that would be?"  
  
"Bunch of new girls coming next week. Pick him out a Slayer.' Faith grinned. "That way he'd have someone strong and capable, and you can train her yourself."  
  
"Him, a Slayer and Dawn? Maybe you'd like to join his harem."  
  
"Might be interesting," Faith smiled, causing sweat to pop out of Andrew's brow. But I'm a solo type girl. Besides, I'm leaving."  
  
"You're what?"  
  
"Xander offered me a position as Prime Slayer for the Cleveland Hellmouth."  
  
"What???"  
  
"Robin's got a job as Assistant Principal in a school there, and He gets to be my Watcher."  
  
"What am I going to do?"  
  
"Stay here, train the brats," Faith shrugged. "Form some kind of Slayer Swat Team that can go anywhere there's more trouble than the local team can handle. Help Giles with the admin stuff."  
  
"Don't you think it's Xander's job to tell me this?"  
  
Faith shrugged. "I'm sure he will. Soon's he's finished with Andrew's room?"  
  
"M-mmy room," asked Andrew. "What's wrong with my room."  
  
"Not big enough, and twinkle toes here thought you should be in the room next to Dawn's. Where you can better protect her and she can keep an eye on both of you." Faith stretched. "So Xand and some of the kid slayers're pulling out all those tools and painting walls and such. All so Trading Places. Books are coming in from England, and Willow's gonna plug your computer into the net. She nearly freaked when she saw that your computer ain't even as modern as Xander's."  
  
"So, the little man found something he's good at."  
  
Andrew started and dropped the sling. After he had left buffy in the gym, he had come here to this field behind one of the barns, and cast stones at a tin can he had propped up against a clump of dirt.  
  
"A sling," Faith stepped forward out of the shadows. "Kind of David and Goliath for me, but hey if it works go for it."  
  
"Well, not really good." Andrew waved a hand at the can. "I never hit the target."  
  
"Nope, but I been watching, and you come real close three tries out of five. You just need to get that final bit down. Get centered. Try taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly before you cast."  
  
"Maybe you could show me?" Andrew held out the sling, he had fashioned out of leather strings and a pouch." Faith took it, examined the workmanship ."  
  
"Nah, not my thing," Faith handed the sling back. "I need something more solid, I can aim down, like a crossbow. That's solid. A stake's even better, cause then I'm up close and personal, which is where I want to be." Faith paused. "Go ahead, give it a try."  
  
Andrew did as instructed and the stone flew wide. "That doesn't work," he complained.  
  
"What? You expecting miracles your very first try? Don't give up on me boy, not when you're so close. Give it another try."  
  
"This time he can wobbled."  
  
"See you just need practice. Do it again."  
  
"Fantastic," crowed Faith.  
  
"Fantastic," muttered Andrew. His right shoulder ached and he was tired. But the last dozen casts were right on, and the can was now a twisted hunk of dented metal. That was good, he thought.  
  
"You may sit," Faith told him grandly. "But don't go anywhere. Be right back."  
  
"Back," stammered Andrew. "Uh, why?"  
  
"Gonna see how you're doing against a moving target."  
  
"Giles, he can't even fight." Buffy paced back and forth in the Library. "How's he going to protect Dawn if he can't fight." She turned her eyes full on her Watcher. "Faith says he'll never be able to."  
  
"Well, with the number of Slayers about, perhaps that will never come up."  
  
Buffy took a seat and flopped int it. "Willow, did I make a mistake?"  
  
"Well gee Buff, I don't know." The red haired with looked Buffy in the eye. "I wanted to keep her safe. I could have done it too. I could have been her Watcher, which would have made it even easier for me to keep her safe. But somebody decided Andrew could do the job."  
  
"Will, don't be like that please. I couldn't let them send him away where I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on him and giving him a Slayer. That's just wrong."  
  
"I know that Buffy." Willow's smile lit up her whole face nd Buffy blew out a sigh of relief. Willow's smile faded. "Except maybe for the wrong part, because I still think you let him be Dawn's Watcher for the wrong reasons."  
  
"The wrong reasons?"  
  
"You let him be Dawn's Watcher so you could keep him here, which is so the wrong reason for picking him to be Dawn's Watcher." Willow closed her eyes and opened them again. "How can I put this, look, if he were a vampire he would be a minion. He'd never be a Master Vampire like Spike or Angel. He'd be a good loyal minion, but that's all he'd ever be. Give him a task to do and he'll do the best he can to do it, and he'll get it done if anyone can. But put him out there where he has to decide between the tasks and he'll either choose one task , even the wrong one, and do his best to get that one task done. Or, he'll tread water trying to do them all, which he won't be able to do, and we'll have to keep bailing him out. It's not his fault. It's just the way he is. He'll do a good job protecting Dawn." Willow's mouth lifted into a wry grin. "Even from me. Just keep him where you can keep an eye on him and keep him from falling to the dark side, which probably won't happen unless he falls sway to some powerful personality, well more powerful than his, which may never happen."  
  
"Maybe," Buffy muttered, looking down on her folded arms. Then her head shot up, and she glared at a startled Willow. "What do you mean even from me?"  
  
"I, uh, do a magickal sweep of the school and farm every night, to make sure everything is, uh, okay. Anyway, her room has been warded, not with really powerful wards, and the could be gotten through easily but not without effort and warning Dawn so she could have her shields up."  
  
"You do a magickal sweep," Giles looked sternly at Willow. "You sure that's all it it?"  
  
Willow squirmed under Gile's' glare. "Yes Giles, I swear, that's all I do."  
  
Giles opened his mouth but was drowned out by excited shouts coming through the window.  
  
"Cari, you're not supposed to let him hit you. And not with my shirt on. God, that'll take work to get clean. I swear..."  
  
"Andrew," Buffy shouted as she. Willow and Giles, rounded the barn. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" She started running forward and faltered when something yellowish blurred her vision. She stumbled, still moving forward, and wiped her eyes. Eggs? Bits of shell? "Andrew," she growled, just as a dark form insinuated itself in front of her."  
  
"You need to chill B," said Faith. "Just a training session."  
  
"Just a what," Buffy gaped at her. "What do you mean a training session?"  
  
"Andrew needs practice hitting moving targets and the brats need practice not being hit by moving objects." Faith picked some eggshell from Buffy's hair. "You could do with some praise as well." 


	8. A visit by the Head of the Council

""I found it," Dawn bounced into the library where Willow, Buffy, and Andrew were seated around the table. "Well I didn't exactly find it, but I know where it is."  
  
""That's nice," Willow flashed a smile at Dawn and the turned back to Buffy. "I don't understand it, why's she coming here?"  
  
"Who's coming," asked Dawn, still obviously excited by her discovery but somewhat diminished by Willow's reaction to it.   
  
"The new head of the Council," answered Buffy. "We have to decide how we're going to handle this."  
  
"Big deal." Dawn rolled her eyes, and took a seat next to Andrew. "Some stuffy Brit is coming and nobody wants to hear what I found."  
  
"Well," came a voice from the door. "I can't speak for the rest but this stuffy Brit would like to hear what you found."  
  
Instead of speaking, Dawn just stared at the newcomer, as did the others. Flanked by Xander and Giles, the new Head of the Council was completely identical to Willow Rosenberg.  
  
"Rowena Travers," said the newcomer, entering the room and claiming a seat. Xander took one next to her while Giles moved to stand beside a book shelf. "I dare say that I own something made out of tweed, though it has been some time since I wore it."  
  
Rowena fixed her eyes on everybody sitting at the table and then returned her attention to Dawn. "Now you say you found something?"  
  
"Well, er, uh," Dawn felt herself redden and cast her eyes around the table for help. "You see Xander asked me to find the Garden of Eden and, uh, I did. Well, somebody else did but I checked his research and I think he's right so I didn't actually find it but I know where it is."  
  
"Where would that be?"  
  
"In the Adj Chay valley, ten miles north of Tabriz. That's uh in Iran." Dawn pulled a map out of the papers she was carrying. "See, the Bible says that the Tigris and the Eurphrates rivers had there start there. See," Dawn pointed the rivers out. Rowena leaned forward for a better look. "The Bible also says there were two other rivers that got their start there, the Gihon and the Pishon"  
  
"But see," Rowena pointed to the two rivers. "They're called Gaihan Aras and this one is called Kezel Uizun."  
  
"But there's more," said Dawn, recovering some of the excitement she had lost. See, here, this area, east of the Adj Chay valley, it's Noqdi, the Land of Nod, where Cain was sent."  
  
Rowena sat back down and steepled her fingers. "Excellent, but why did this person think that this valley was the Garden of Eden?"  
  
"There's an account of a man, a Sumerian, who went back, looking for gold and Lapis Lazuli for a temple. It's on a tablet in the Museum of hr Orient in Istanbul and is really old and describes the path to Eden and."  
  
Rowena held up a hand, stopping the flow of words. "You have done an excellent job, and have convinced me that this is indeed the Earthly location of the Garden." She smiled. "At first we were concerned at Mr. Harris' choice of an assistant, but you have more than exceeded our expectations."  
  
Dawn preened.  
  
"Uh," Willow held up a hand. "Why do you have to find the Garden of Eden?"  
  
Rowena frowned. "Well I suppose no harm will come from telling you. We have come into possession of an artifact that we believe should be returned there."  
  
"You mean we get to go to Eden," asked Dawn. "Cause that would be so cool."  
  
"Given the current state of affairs between the US government and the government of Iran, that might not be advisable, to say nothing of cultural differences that may prove difficult to surmount while keeping the mission secret. Made doubly difficult because humans can't touch the artifact, for some reason."  
  
"Cultural differences," asked Kennedy. "You mean like the way they treat women?" She snorted. "Surely where're some Slayers over there that can help."  
  
"There are no Slayers in Iran." Rowena's statement was flat and stilled everyone. "That is there are no active Slayers. The ones we found we had to smuggle out of Iran before they could be killed. There are others, but they prefer to remain unknown."  
  
"But.."  
  
"A bullet will kill a Slayer just as easily as it will kill anyone else human."  
  
"You mean..."  
  
Rowena sighed. "Mankind, and I use the term in its most generic way, has two means in which to deal with things they don't understand. They will worship it or they will fear and they will try to destroy the thing they fear. Even if it means losing their own lives in the process."  
  
"But we thought when we released their power we made the world a better place.'  
  
"You may have, but you can't expect the change to come over night."  
  
"I thought this was the twenty first century," said an unnamed Slayer.  
  
"Which means," Rowena asked, but never gave a chance for an answer. "The major difference between man today and man in caveman times, again I use the term in its generic sense, is that we got better toys. "  
  
"Well if you hadn't suppressed the powers..."  
  
"There would be no more Slayers," Rowena snapped back. "Do you think the opposition would not have actively killed every Slayer they could find, or every woman, family, they thought would produce a Slayer? Either that or the Slayers would have to band together and become humanities rulers, or as bad, in their own way, as the opposition in order to ensure their survival." Rowena glared around the table. "Perhaps the Council erred on the side of caution, keeping the line to one Slayer to a generation, keeping her isolated, secret. But the world survived more apocalypses than you have had a hand in stopping."  
  
If Buffy hadn't activated the Slayer we wouldn't have survived."  
  
"No one is arguing that," said Rowena calmly. "Right or wrong, that act does have consequences. Consequences such as this." Rowena took a newspaper out of her case and tossed it on the table. "The New York Times," she informed them. "The front page story is of a gang fight in Central park, actually more of a massacre. A surviving member of the losing gang told the police that it was three girls that did most of the damage"  
  
"They could have been vampires," came a suggestion.  
  
"We thought of that." Rowena admitted. "However the sun was not yet down when the fight occurred. No vampire could have been there."  
  
"Demons," suggested Willow. "They don't have to be afraid of the sun."  
  
"Perhaps. Which is why we want you to go to New York to investigate."  
  
"Okay," Willow nodded. "I'll go cause we need to know. But what do we do if they turn out to be Slayers. But what do I do if they are? I mean jail held Faith, but she wanted to be there. I don't think jail's going to hold them if they don't."  
  
"I don't know." Rowena sagged in her chair. "This isn't like anything we've ever had to face before."  
  
"Okay, so Faith and I go to New York, look into this thing. What is the rest going to do?"  
  
"Well I want to go to Eden," said Dawn.  
  
"Dawn, you are not going," snapped Buffy. "So you can just forget about it."  
  
"Why not? You heard her. That's talisman's gotta be carried by someone not human, and I'm not human. Well I'm human because the monks made me that way, but I'm not exactly human because I'm the key and..." Dawn trailed off and slumped down into her chair.  
  
"Will the power of the Key negate the power of the artifact," mused Rowena, then shook herself out of it. It may come to that but there are other possibilities we should look into first before we do anything that might endanger your life. If there is no other option and if your sister agrees, then we'll see." Rowena leaned back in her chair.   
  
"Now onto other business." 


	9. conversations, questions and answers

"How long will you be here?' Buffy was sitting in the cafeteria across from Rowena, who was going through a pile of binders. Raw reports that Xander had been gathering from various Watchers.   
  
"Three weeks," replied Rowena, "Possibly a month. The Council feels that I should get some field experience."  
  
"Field experience," Buffy was astonished. "But you're the head of the Council. What do you need field experience for. The old Council certainly didn't."  
  
"What do you know of the old Council?" Rowena marked the page she was on. "How many members of it did you actually meet?" She eyed Buffy waiting for an answer.  
  
"Well, not that many," answered Buffy. "But they fired Giles, and there was the whole Cruciamentum thing, and not wanting to save Angel, .."  
  
"You mean Angelus," Rowena answered. "Don't you?"  
  
"No," huffed Buffy. "I mean Angel. Okay, he used to be Angelus, but that was before he got a soul."  
  
"Hardly a shining recommendation," observed Rowena. "Did you really believe that the Council would help Angelus? Most of the Council has lost family members to that Monster. It took a great deal of argument to persuade them not to mount a hunting party. That was successful, but there was no way the Council would help him. Not even to stop the Ascension."  
  
"So you would risk a catastrophe rather than save one man?"  
  
"One vampire," corrected Rowena, "and a monstrous one at that. I understand that you went hunting for Faith with the intention of feeding her blood to Angelus."  
  
"He needed Slayer Blood to survive. Faith poisoned him It was only right that her blood be used to cure him."  
  
Rowena nodded. "When that failed you went to him and offered your own blood." She cocked her head. "What would have happened had Angelus taken too much blood? If you had not recovered enough, or in time to stop the Ascension."  
  
"That never happened."  
  
"Is that a guarantee that it would not have happened?" Rowena quirked an eyebrow in a manner that so reminded Buffy of Willow that she almost forgot that this was not Willow but a girl she had never seen before, up to a couple days ago. She was about to rebuff Rowena's words when she held up a hand, stilling Buffy's words."  
  
"I will not be taken to task for decisions I had no part in making. Neither will I apologize for them, personally or in the name of the Council. As I'm sure you won't apologize for decisions you have made."  
  
  
  
Buffy was about to say more when she was interrupted.  
  
"Buffy, she's my sister." Willow barreled through the door. "I did a spell and genetically, she's my parents daughter." Willow spotted Rowena sitting at the table and sputtered to a stop. "Uh hi, uh I'm just excited because I always thought I was an only child and now I'm not and...uh you're not"  
  
'Excited no, I have always known that Quenton Traverse was not my real father, nor his wife my real mother. Just confused. You say you did a spell to come to this conclusion. I presume this spell was used on me, yet I do not recall giving you permission to do so, or," here Rowena paused for emphasis, "your asking for it."  
  
"Uh, er, I didn't exactly ask."  
  
"Then I should be grateful that you didn't harm me."  
  
"Hey," protested Buffy. "There's no call for speaking to her like that. It's not like she was doing anything wrong." Almost as soon as it was out of her mouth Buffy knew she had said the wrong thing.  
  
"Invading my privacy, the privacy of my person, is not wrong?"  
  
"You know what I meant. She didn't mean any harm. Besides, weren't you ever curious who you're real parents were?"  
  
"Yes," Rowena admitted. "I was curious and Father always reminded me that I would be told, if ever I wished to know. I never did. It never got to be more than idle curiosity. Wondering what life would be like if I lived with another family. Something that every child does."  
  
"But now you can know," said Willow. "You're a Rosenberg, and an American and Jewish and so much more. You don't have to be Head of the Council cause you're not a Traverse and you can come live with me and help Buffy and...you're not exactly thrilled are you."  
  
"It will take some time to get used to," Rowena told her. "Also it will have to be confirmed in more traditional means and in the end, I don't think it will change much."  
  
"Wait, what, but you don't have to, you mean it doesn't mean anything to you that we're sisters? Twins, maybe."  
  
Rowena stared at Willow, then closed her eyes and let a tear seep out. "It means a lot, knowing that I have a sister. I feel more complete, but beyond that nothing changes. Your parents may be my biological parents, but in every way, except that one, Quenton and Laura Traverse were my real parents."  
  
"But...."  
  
A spark of anger entered Rowena's eyes.   
  
"Quenton and Laura Traverse raised me and loved me as if I were really their own, and I loved them. They were the only parents I ever knew and I will not dishonour their memory by casting them aside."  
  
  
  
"It appears you created quite a stir this morning." Giles entered the cafeteria, where Rowena was working and headed for the kitchen. "More tea?"  
  
"Yes, thank you." Rowena smiled wanly and stretched her neck. "The caffeine might be enough to get me through this mess."  
  
Giles brought the tea things over to the table. "Xander does print out a summery, he has gotten quite good at it, with my help of course."  
  
"Yes, I read it." Rowena indicated a much smaller stack of papers, then reached for her tea cup. "Very informative, but it's more sterile. Reading the original reports does give me some insight into what the writer was thinking. Not much but some."  
  
"Giles made ready to pour her tea, and then hesitated. "We do have an extensive selection of herb teas. Too much caffeine tends to make Willow rather excitable." Rowena raised a corner of her mouth and Giles apologized and poured.  
  
"It affects me that way as well. But some times it's needed." Rowena shrugged. "Another reason to believe that I am her sister."  
  
"She seemed quite convinced you were, er, are."  
  
"Yes, but casting a spell to prove something is risky. If only because the caster is predisposed to a certain result. Quite often the result they arrive at are the ones they want."  
  
"So, you don't believe there is a relationship."  
  
"I believe that there might be a relationship. I'm almost certain there is." Rowena stretched her neck. "Did you ever hear of a project some Watchers ran, called rebirth?"  
  
"I heard some gossip about it, but not much. Except that your father was instrumental in shutting it down."  
  
"What they were doing was an experiment in using magick to clone humans. It was not authorized and my father was horrified that it was even attempted. I presented a rather messy problem by the time he had the experiment shut down."  
  
"They never returned you to your parents?"  
  
Rowena stared at Giles, then started laughing. "Come on Giles," she said when she regained control. "Suppose you were presented with the problem my father was. How would you explain me to my biological parents?"  
  
Giles thought furiously then took a gulp of tea. "I ah see how the problem could be awkward."  
  
"Awkward does nor even begin to describe it. Father did the only thing he could have, short of leaving me on the doorstep of some orphanage. He passed me off as a foreign adoption, which was made easier because mother had spent close to a year out of country."  
  
"So you could be a Rosenberg," Xander joined them at the table. "Willow was telling me all about it before she left for New York."  
  
"I could be a Rosenberg, but I am a Traverse. Now, could we talk about something else?" 


	10. 2 conversations and an attack

Disclaimer in part 1  
  
Authors note. Here I am trying to give an explanation for the situation between Dawn and Willow, and hopefully from that you can get an inkling of the situation between Dawn and Buffy.   
  
"She hates me. There's no question about it she hates me." Willow leaned back in her car seat and groaned.  
  
"Who hates you Will?" Willow flung her eyes open, to see Kennedy staring at her, Faith twisted around, for a better view. Robin, who was driving the girls to New York, kept his eyes on the road.  
  
"Nobody hates you hon," soothed Kennedy. "They just don't know you like we do."  
  
"Huh," stammered Willow, then realization hit her. "Did I say that aloud."  
  
"Sure did Red," Faith chuckled and turned to face the windshield. "Course if you wanna talk about it it'll help pass the time."  
  
"Nobody hates you," repeated Kennedy. "If they do they're just plain stupid."  
  
"Dawnie's not stupid," muttered Willow, more to put up a face of defense than anything else. "She just prefers Andrew to me."  
  
Faith snorted. "Word is you agreed with her choice."  
  
"Still hurts though."  
  
"Don't mean she don't love you though."  
  
"Then why didn't she choose me? Why did she put up her shields against me? She can't really think I'd hurt her, can she?"  
  
"It ain't like you never tried Will." Faith shook her head and would have said more if she hadn't been interrupted.  
  
"Twice," said Kennedy, heatedly. "And neither of them was her fault. If Rack hadn't..."  
  
"Were you there girl?" Faith twisted in her seat so she could face Kennedy. "Did you see the guy with the gun to Willow's head. The one that made her go to Rack and get all hopped up? Cause, you know, Rack didn't go to Willow."  
  
"What's she talking to you for," demanded Willow. "It isn't like you never did anything to her."  
  
"She talks to me cause I don't carry tales."  
  
"I don't..."  
  
"Yeah? Last time she talked to you she got grounded for a week. Time before that, it was two weeks before she saw the outside of her room. As for what I did to her, trying to kill her sister is a damn sight different than trying to kill her."  
  
"What," asked Kennedy, turning to look at Willow. "You never told me?"  
  
"It er was after Tara died, and I went over to the dark side." Willow twisted her fingers into knots. "I had, uh, just killed Rack and she was there and I' uh..." Willow's voice trailed off, and she glanced at Faith. "But she said she'd forgiven me for that."  
  
"Which she did, and has done. But forgiving is not forgetting and the way she tells it, you said the bunch of you would be better off if she wasn't there. That's a real heavy gig to lay on a 15 year old kid who's not sure where she fits in, or even if she does. Brat's done a remarkable job of setting that aside, but it's not the kind of thing easily forgotten."  
  
"She'll come around," Kennedy placed an arm around Willow and let her snuggle up close. "After all, you saved the world, you've more than redeemed yourself."  
  
"If you're talking about what went down in SunnyD, just before it went south, I was there and people are still giving me the will she or won't she looks."  
  
"You murdered two people."  
  
"So did Willow."  
  
'What Willow did wasn't murder. It was justified?"  
  
"Tying a man up, torturing him, taking his skin off before burning him alive is justified?" Faith chuckled. "They learned about that in prison. Cost me a week in soli."  
  
"In what?"  
  
"Solitary. Some of the inmates decided that since I knew Willow here, I must be a friend, and I should know just how justified they thought she was. After a week o that crap I pushed back just a little too hard." Faith eyed Willow. "No biggie, I was getting fat. Needed the excersize." Faith stared out the windshield. "Don't change the fact that Willow hunted him down like a dog and she was out to kill him."  
  
Willow winced.  
  
"You got a point or do I have to beat it out of you?"  
  
"Sure I got a point, and bring it on girl, anytime you think you grew a pair." Faith smiled. "Point is you don't get redeemed by doing things. You get redeemed by changing what's inside of you. Losing the attitude that caused you to need the redeeming touch."  
  
"Willow's done that. There was a whole year that she couldn't use her power, cause she was scared of it. Something you wouldn't know about cause you were in jail. They should have thrown away the key."  
  
"Wasn't the bars that kept me in there girl. It was me that made sure I didn't break out, which wouldn't have been all that hard to do." Faith paused and continued. "So Will didn't make with the mojo for most of a year. She got her confidence back when she made you all Slayers. Dawn tells Willow that she can sense Willow's magick. Next thing you know there's a massive attempt to get through Dawn's shields and the mojo's got Red's signature all over it." Faith looked back at Kennedy. "You got an answer for how that could have happened?"  
  
Kennedy pressed her lips together, cutting back the retort when Willow squeezed her hand."  
  
"See," said Faith. "She hasn't changed. Still thinks she can use her magick how she pleases. Don't matter that all she wanted was to protect the Brat. She still went ahead and did it. Same attitude as before. When she rids herself of that attitude realizes that just because she can't don't make it right and stops herself from doing it, that's when real redemption starts."  
  
"First time I ever was in a principal's office," Xander stood in the doorway and looked around at the book lined walls. "Without being summoned there." He grinned and entered to claim a seat next to Buffy's, facing Giles across his desk. "Hey G-man nice work."  
  
"Thank you," responded Giles. "And please don't call me that."  
  
"Okay,' xander promised, though both knew that was one he wouldn't keep. "Busy? Cause I wouldn't want to interfere with a slayer watcher bonding moment, not even to help another Watcher Slayer bond."  
  
"You've been assigned a Slayer?" Giles looked surprised. "I would have thought you're presence in a school of Slayers would have negated that necessity."  
  
"Caridad," said Xander.  
  
Huh?"  
  
"Caridad's gonna be my Slayer, when I need one, which is when I'm not here, at the school, which isn't going to be often. I was thinking more of David and Darlene."  
  
"Who," inquired Giles.  
  
"David and Darlene, a brother sister act in Tulsa Arizona. She became a Slayer and they were together when a couple vamps decided on them to chow down on. Since then they've been doing their best, but they don't really know what's going on. They've been in contact with Jacob, a Watcher in Yuma, who's got his hands full with four other Slayers closer to him. He's been in contact with me, Jacob not David, and he says that David is willing to help Darlene as best as he can."  
  
"She should come here, where she can be properly trained."  
  
"Yeah, but she won't leave home, something about ailing parents."  
  
"If she won't come here, I fail to see how I can help."  
  
"Well not her, directly, though I suppose the Buffster could make a quick trip out there to give her some pointers. More like him. All you'd need to do is to write down some of the stuff you learned. Sort of a Watcher's Handbook, and I can post it on my BBS. Which he can get to. Sort of Watching 101 long distance."  
  
"Why," asked Buffy, looking out the window."  
  
"Huh? Buffy, he needs help."  
  
"Not him," said Buffy. "You. Why are you doing this?"  
  
Xander looked at Buffy in surprise. "Someone has to."  
  
"Yeah, but why you. You were never the Watcher type. All bookish and all. You used to want to be out there with me, doing the patrolling and fighting and stuff."  
  
"That's where I was needed then."  
  
"Needed?" Giles raised an eyebrow. "As I recall you had to be pulled out of more scrapes than you got out of yourself. No ones doubting your bravery, but you hardly were more than a distraction at best."  
  
"True, and while I was distracting them by getting the crap beat out of me, buffy and the rest of you were able to handle the others a little more easily than you would have otherwise. If I hadn't been there to distract them."  
  
"Ah yes, I suppose that is one way of putting it." Giles picked up his teacup and sipped. "Foolish would be another way."  
  
"Which would be a rather good description of the way I felt, usually while I was getting the crap beat out of me or right after. Take your pick." Xander snared a cookie off of Giles plate and bit into it. "Now with all the Slayers running loose you got adequate distraction powers and are sadly lacking in Watchers. Am I right?"  
  
"Unfortunately, you are."  
  
"And in the ensuing chaos after the SunnyD hellmouth closure, the demons, vampires, and other assorted baddies, are trying to take advantage. So by trying to be information central I can keep tabs on what's happening, and direct Slayers to where they are needed. I'm not needed on the battle line so much, but someone needs to do this so why not me?"  
  
Buffy did not have an answer. She just knew that things were spinning away from what she had wanted for the rest of her life. Which, she had hoped, would be easier, Instead nothing was turning out like she had planned. She was about to say something when there was a crashing at the door and three people tumbled to a stop at her feet. Buffy took a quick look at the door to find it broken and a group of Fyarl demons standing in it.  
  
"Little man said find, bring here," said one gutturally. "We found we brought. Now we go."  
  
Before Buffy could react, they were gone, and by the time she got out into the hallway, they were nowhere to be seen. But Dawn, Andrew and Caridad were barreling towards her.  
  
"They here yet," Andrew darted into the office. And came face to face with three black robed teenagers, two girls and one boy. "Dawn?"  
  
Dawn peered around Buffy, and frowned. Then got excited. "Yes, that's them. The girl, the tall one, she's the one who's magick I was feeling."  
  
Buffy looked from Dawn to Andrew to the frightened new comers. "I do hope someone is going to tell me what's going on around here."  
  
"Well, you see," said Dawn, relief evident in her voice. "I got attacked and I got my shields up, but Andrew had a way of tracing the attack back to its source, which he did, and he got the Fyarl demons, who are friends of his, so you really shouldn't harm them cause they only did what Andrew asked them to, and they were supposed to go to the source, of the magick, and bring them here."Dawn ran out of breath but soon recovered. "Which they did and they are here." 


	11. Home Crisis

"Andrew really should be doing this," Xander looked at the trio. "Its his baby after all."  
  
"I don't want him here," snapped Buffy. "He's done enough as it is."  
  
"Okay," Xander sighed. He really thought Andrew should be here, but Buffy was in one of her moods, and usually it was better to play along. Unless it was something that really needed to be done. He could always talk to Andrew later. He turned to the robed male.  
  
"Perhaps you could start with your names. I'm Alexander Harris, most call me Xander though."  
  
Buffy started to say something, but thought better of it. Contenting herself with glaring at the trio.  
  
"You can't keep us here."  
  
Buffy growled.  
  
"We're not going to keep you," Xander said. "At least not long. Whether you enjoy your stay with us kind of depends on you."  
  
"What are you going to do to us," asked one of the girls."  
  
"Shut up Corrie," snapped the boy. "You don't have to tell him anything."  
  
"Don't be afraid Corrie," smiled Xander. "We're not going to do anything to you. We just want to know what you were doing out there in that field. Then you're free to go."  
  
Buffy shifted in her seat.  
  
"What about her," said the other girl, "What's he gonna do to us?"  
  
"She's not going to do anything either," Xander promised. "But she wants to. You see, what you were trying to do could have hurt her sister. But she's promised to behave."  
  
Buffy scowled, but this time it was at Xander. Not at the trio. How dare he make promises for her.   
  
"We didn't mean to," said the girl. "We just wanted to get our Mother back."  
  
"Wuss," said the boy in a low voice, but not low enough so that no one could mistake the disdain in his voice.  
  
"You're Mother is missing?" Xander looked concerned. "Maybe you could tell us about that? We might be able to help."  
  
"We don't need you're help," said the boy. "We can find her on our own."  
  
"But Dougie? Maybe they can help." The girl turned back to Xander. "I'm Marcie, and we were just trying to get our Mother back from wherever those monsters took her. We didn't mean to harm anyone. Really. We were just trying to get our Mother back."  
  
"The monsters, did they look like the ones that brought you here."  
  
Marcie shuddered at the thought. The Fyarl demons had not been gentle. "No," she said. "They were bigger and more reddish, with horns and and stuff. They came to our house and they took our Mother. Dougie here said he knew how to find her, but we didn't mean to hurt any one." Marcie looked back at Buffy. "Honest."  
  
"That's what you were doing in the field? Casting spell to find your mother?"  
  
"Marcie nodded.  
  
Xander picked up the phone. "Giles? Have you had a chance to look at that paper Cari brought up to you." Xander listened for what looked like a really long time. Finally he grinned and placed the receiver back in it's cradle.  
  
"Mr. Giles, the man I was just talking to, knows a whole lot about magick, and he says that the spell you were trying might have found your mother, but needed a lot of power to work. Did you know that?"  
  
"Dougie said that there was a well of power close by. He said we could use that to get our Mother back. But we didn't know that power was in someone."  
  
"Mr. Giles also said that the spell wasn't exactly attuned to any one source. It just tried to attach itself to the biggest source. So I'm tempted to believe that you didn't mean any harm to Buffy's sister." Xander glanced at his watch. "Okay, suppose we call a taxi to get you back home. You can come back tomorrow and we'll do what we can to help. But you have to promise that you won't try any more spells without knowing what they'll do."  
  
"We promise," cried Marcie, "and thank you."  
  
"That's it," Buffy exploded after the trio had left. "You're just going to let them go?"  
  
"That's what I promised Buff.   
  
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222  
  
"So who were those robed freaks?" Willow's voice sounded tinny over the phone, but she sounded cheerful enough. She had phoned Buffy first thing to tell her that they had arrived safe and sound and were getting ready to start searching for the errant Slayers. Buffy had described the attack upon Dawn, and how Andrew had tracked them down and had them brought here.  
  
"Local kids," Buffy grumped. "Said they were looking for their mother, they were trying to tap into this source of power that they thought would help them, and didn't know that it was an actual person."  
  
"So they didn't mean to hurt Dawn? Er, do you believe them?"  
  
"No and I don't know. The older brother, Doug, wasn't to forthcoming with the answers, but the two girls, younger, Corrie and Marcie did most of the talking. Marcie was more scared that we'd do something to them."  
  
"Did you? Do something to them, I mean?"  
  
"What could I do," Buffy huffed. "Its not like they were demons or something, so I couldn't slay them, and we couldn't keep them or go to the police. Xander just asked them some questions, made them promise to be very careful, and sent them home in a taxi."  
  
"I guess there wasn't anything else you could do." Willow thought a moment. "Except maybe you could look into their story. You know, check to see if their Mother really disappeared. I know if mine did I'd do what I could to get her back. Maybe you could get Andrew to help with the research bit. He may know a demon who knows something."  
  
"I sort of asked him to leave."  
  
"You what...why?"  
  
"Will, he used demons. Fyarl Demons. He's supposed to be keeping my sister safe not talking to demons."  
  
"Kind a sounds like that's what he was doing."  
  
"Am I the only one who sees anything wrong with using demons?"  
  
"Well it is rather unconventional, I guess. But not unheard of." Willow sighed. "Look, we'll talk when I get back, and Andrew doesn't have to be at the school to look into this. Just call him and tell him."  
  
"I don't know where he is," Buffy admitted.   
  
"Dawn should know. He is her Watcher."  
  
"I'll ask," muttered Buffy. "Maybe she can get him started on this."  
  
"Right, well the others are ready to go. Gotta run." With that, Willow hung up leaving Buffy to sit on her bed staring at the wall. Finally she cradled the phone and headed for Dawn's room.  
  
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222  
  
"Anyone seen Dawn?" Buffy entered the cafeteria where some of the new Slayers were eating breakfast. "She didn't sleep in her room last night. I checked."  
  
"Haven't seen her," said an anonymous Slayer. "Andrew's gone too. We had to cook our own breakfast."  
  
"Yeah and no one makes French toast like he does."  
  
"Or one eyed susans."  
  
"And that stuff he puts in orange juice, the stuff that really brings the taste out. Anyone know what that is?"  
  
"Powdered orange," someone cried out. "That's what he puts in oj. Where is he anyway? It's not like him to miss a meal."  
  
"Look," Buffy shouted to get their attention. "Andrew's gone and that's it. You're just going to half to deal with his not being here. Now, has anyone seen Dawn?"  
  
"Why is he gone?"  
  
Buffy stared. "Like I owe you an explanation?" She spotted Caridad in the crowd. "Caridad. You've spent time with her. Did she say anything to you?"  
  
Caridad said nothing.   
  
"Caridad if you know anything... now would be a good time to tell me."  
  
"Or what," Caridad demanded getting out of her chair and facing Buffy. "You'll be kicking me out like you did Andrew. For why? For keeping Dawn safe, which was what he was supposed to do, no? Well fine, I go, save you the trouble." Caridad brushed past a surprised Buffy, muttering a blue streak in Spanish."  
  
Buffy turned to see everyone staring silently at her.  
  
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222  
  
"Xander," Buffy entered his office to see him sitting behind his desk, examining the paper. "This has to stop."  
  
"Can't agree with you more Buff." Xander circled an advertisement. "It's like living in a war zone around here. Which is kind of distracting from both the custodial stuff and the Watcher stuff I do. Which is why I'm looking for an apartment. Someplace close, so I can still do the custodial stuff, but far enough away that I can get some tranquility for the other stuff."  
  
"Xander, Dawn is gone. Her bed hasn't been slept in."  
  
"So I heard." Xander circled another ad. "Maybe she went with Andrew, who I understand is also no longer hear. Which no one saw fit to share with me. Way I hear it," Xander looked up at Buffy, "You kicked him out for doing his job."  
  
"What, how did you, I never..."  
  
"Talked to me about it, nope you didn't. Caridad did though. She came storming in here a half an hour ago, and never let anyone tell you those Spaniards aren't spicy when hot. She came in with a full head of steam, demanding to be reassigned to Andrew, as his Slayer. I didn't even know she wanted to be his Slayer. But she and Dawn are closer than the rest, so she might know where they are."  
  
"I knew that little vixen knew something," Buffy ground out. "She give you an address?"  
  
"No and I don't think I'd get one out of her even if I tried. I promised to see that Andrew became her Watcher and she promised to phone when she got settled." Xander smiled. "Remember when we'd go out patrolling and I'd get the crap beat out of me?" Xander sighed. "Never figured I'd look back on them fondly as the good old days."  
  
Buffy slumped in her chair. "I promised Mom I'd keep her safe. How can I do that if I don't know where she is?"  
  
"By doing the best you can," Xander told her. "But don't be so focused on the task that you treat her like a possession not a person. Remember she's not just an all powerful source of power. She's a kid with all that means, and with all the stuff that she lives with."  
  
"I lived it when I was her age. So did you and Willow."  
  
"And did you like it when you were her age? I remember some of the arguments you and Giles had, and you had some concept of what a normal life is, having lived part of one. Dawn hasn't. All she knows, not false memory like, is that she is the Key and was given to you to protect, and she's also a human, with very human desires, plus being a teenager, which, if I remember right, ain't all that easy."  
  
Xander stood up and rounded the desk towards Buffy. "You gotta lighten up Buffy. Give her space to breathe. Trust Andrew to do his job. Sure, his methods aren't exactly my cup of tea, but give him a chance."  
  
"How can I do that if I can't find them?"  
  
"Give me a couple days and I'll find them." 


	12. Domestic issues and a prophecy

"I suppose you're here to take me back," Dawn stood aside to let Xander into the apartment she shared with Andrew and Caridad. "That's what you came for isn't it."  
  
"Well actually no," Xander did a quick scan of the apartment before taking off his jacket and putting it on a convenient chair. "Not that that wouldn't be a good idea, but so not what I came for." Xander fixed his eye on Dawn. "You should phone Buffy though. She's really freaked."  
  
"So, what did you come for?"  
  
"I was checking out an apartment upstairs."  
  
"So you're leaving too," accused Dawn. "What did Buffy do to you?"  
  
"I'm not leaving," said Xander. "I'm just looking for a place where I can get some peace and quiet. You know, when life at the school get too much."  
  
"You mean life with so many girls." Dawn quirked a smile.  
  
"That too," admitted Xander sheepishly. "So, I was looking at this apartment, which I'm going to be taking, and saw you in the corridor."  
  
"So you decided to follow."  
  
"So I decided to drop in on some friends." Xander grinned at Dawn. "And to talk to Andrew. He here?"  
  
"He and Caridad are at the park, training. I suppose you know she was living with Andrew and me."  
  
"Wasn't too hard to figure out where she was going when she split. Especially as she wanted to be assigned as Andrew's Slayer."  
  
"Well they're at the park," said Dawn. "You can wait if you want. I'm going to get some cookies."  
  
Xander's eyes roamed around the room. One wall was taken up with a battered old book shelves, which he was happy to see was anchored properly. The top three shelves were taken up by Andrew's Watcher Library, while the bottom shelf was home to the beginnings of a comic book collection. A near by desk held Andrew's Apple Iigs, some paper and a pen. A sudden thought struck him as Dawn returned. He felt self conscious as he turned to Dawn, who put down the plate of cookies and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Honestly Xander, you think we have orgies every night." Dawn grabbed an arm and pulled Xander to his feet. "C'mon"  
  
She led him to a small hallway with four doors, and opened the first which opened to reveal a small bedroom.  
  
"This is where I sleep. It's the smallest cause that makes it easily ward able, so I'm safe there." Dawn pointed dramatically at the door. "See it even has a lock on it."   
  
Dawn pushed the door shut.  
  
"Caridad sleeps in the next room, and Andrew has the big one down at the end. So you can report back that nothing is going on." Dawn turned back towards the living room. "Besides he's gay."  
  
"He's what?" Xander stared after Dawn, who spun around and rolled her eyes.  
  
"What you didn't know? All the signs are there. Andrew's gay so he's no threat to my virginity."  
  
This time it was Xander who rolled his eyes and followed Dawn to the living room where he reclaimed his spot on the couch. He decided to change to a safer topic.  
  
"So why aren't you at the park with Andrew and Cari."  
  
"Cause I'm grounded."  
  
"Grounded?" Xander raised an eyebrow. "Andrew grounded you? For what?"  
  
Dawn's face pinked. "I, uh, brought some beer home the other day."  
  
"Andrew grounded you for bringing him some beer?" That wasn't very nice of him."  
  
"The beer wasn't exactly for him."  
  
Dawn looked at Xander. "It was so totally unfair. But he says that if I want to live with him I have to live by his rules."   
  
"Which you said you would, cause otherwise you might have to go back to the school and to Buffy?"  
  
Dawn nodded.  
  
"Which is why you were out in the corridor when I saw you."  
  
22222222222222222  
  
"Dawn phone you?" Xander plopped into a seat in the new finished Teachers Lounge with a machine brewed coffee. Buffy was there staring aimlessly at the television.  
  
  
"She did. She wasn't too big with the details, but she says she's safe, and Andrew's making sure she doesn't get into too much trouble.' Buffy rolled an eye towards Xander. "She also says you blackmailed her into phoning."  
  
Xander grinned. "Caught her breaking her grounding."  
  
"Andrew grounded her and she accepted it?"  
  
"Well I don't know about accepting it, cause I did catch her out in the corridor, but she did bring some beer home, and not for Andrew. He laid down the law and said if she didn't like it she could always come back here.."  
  
"Kind of shows what kind of parent I am." Buffy slumped in her chair. "Dawnie would rather be punished by someone else rather than come home."  
  
Xander smiled sympathetically. "Give her time Buff. We still got a few weeks before school starts and we can get together with Dawn and talk about it then. In the meantime she's safe, with people who care about her, and I'll be on the floor above them." Xander paused. "Then there's this." He handed Buffy a piece of paper.  
  
"The Knight of the Temple and the Girl of Power will take the Snake back to the land where all began." 


	13. One mission ends, another begins

"I go first, then Robin then Red,' Faith eyed the door of the apartment they had traced the girls to. It looked easily breakable and as far as she was concerned, there was no time like the present. Without waiting for an answer, she lifted a foot and kicked it in, and was into the room, twirling even as the door slammed against the inner wall. "Yo Robin right, she hollered. As she had expected, one of the neo-Slayers was right beside it, her eyes wide with surprise.  
  
Which was echoed by the surprise of the other two as Faith continued to spin around and took out their feet with a sweep kick. Not waiting for the element of surprise to die, or for them to get up, Faith popped them one, putting them down for the count, not out cold, but stunned. She turned to see that Robin had stunned his, and soon the trio were seated on the couch, glaring at Faith and the Scoobies.  
  
"Ain't no prison gonna hold us," said one. "You don't look like cops no how."  
  
"That's cause we're not cops," Faith grinned. "I'm betting we could find a prison to hold you." Robin started to say something but Faith held up a hand." "See what my friend was going to say was that no ordinary prison would hold you, which is true enough. So you won't be going to an ordinary prison."  
  
Faith looked around at the apartment until she spotted a news paper. She pulled out a page and made a great show of shredding it. She pulled out another page, and tossed it to the three girls. "Bet you could shred that just as easy. Go on. Give it a try."  
  
The girls glared at her, ignoring the paper until Faith's eyes narrowed. "I said shred the paper."  
  
The paper was shredded.  
  
"Wasn't so hard now was it." Faith made a show of separating a another page from the newspaper, and instead of tossing it towards the couch, she held it up. "Red, you wanna do the honours?"  
  
Willow spoke a word, completing the spell.  
  
Faith tossed the paper at the couch. "You wanna try shredding that."  
  
The middle girl picked it up and with a defiant glint to her eyes began to shred it. Or at least she tried. Her eyes grew wide as she realized she couldn't. One of the others sighed and grabbed it and tried. Soon all three had tried shredding the paper and none had succeeded. Not even a group effort was enough to put a tiny rip into it. They just couldn't do it, until Faith made a signal and Willow canceled the spell.  
  
"Magic," grinned Faith. "All that's needed is Magick and we can put you away for a long time, and maybe we should, or just kill you now."  
  
"You wouldn't dare." That was said with more bravado than was evident.  
  
"That would be murder."  
  
"And what you did wasn't?"   
  
"They deserved it, moving in on our territory."  
  
"Hell with this," Faith looked at Robin. "Time to load them up and haul em out."  
  
""What makes you think we're going with you."  
  
"This." Faith nodded at Willow, who looked distinctly uncomfortable.  
  
But she complied with a contingency, and soon an image of Warren just before he lost his skin appeared in the middle of the room. When the panorama was finished, all three stared horrified.  
  
"Still wanna stay behind," Faith asked sweetly. "Cause we can arrange to leave you behind. With her."  
  
The three hopped to their feet. Faith nodded at Robin and he led the way to the car. Faith and Willow brought up the rear.  
  
"Sorry," Faith said to the Witch. "Couldn't think of any other way to do this without one of them winding up dead."  
  
222222222222222222222222222222  
  
Nathaniel Rosenberg grunted as he glanced out the window at the approaching dusk. Ashton Vermont was a small college town, where he took classes in economics and religious philosophy. Not that that was uppermost on his mind. Carol, Belinda, and Susan were in their bedroom, where they would stay until he got back. Not that that was a rule, but it was where they felt safe. He tested the blade, making sure the sword would come free of it's sheath when he needed it, then he revved the cycle, sending it into motion for the night's patrol."  
  
222222222222222222222222  
  
Buffy stormed down to the basement. This morning she had asked Giles to look into this Temple Knight thing, she was fairly sure that Dawn was the Girl of Power, and when she'd returned a few hours later, he was not in his office. This wasn't of the good.  
  
"Buffy?"  
  
Buffy was headed for Xander's office when she saw Dawn's head poking out, looking at her.  
  
"In here."  
  
In here was where Giles was. Which was also where Caridad, Andrew, and Rona were sitting around, with their noses poked into books.   
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"Er uh," Giles looked up. "There appears to be some sort of demonic attack on Ashlan Vermont."  
  
"Attack?" Buffy looked puzzled. "Why would they attack there?"  
  
"Cause a lot of potentials came from families there." Xander brushed his way past Buffy. "I got Faith," he told Giles. "They got the girls from New York, and will heading there now. Probably won't arrive until tomorrow."  
  
Xander turned to Buffy. "Look, you probably don't know it, but your mother was a potential only she never got called. Potentials gave birth to other potentials, who sometime became Slayers. Except they're all Slayers now, and the baddies are on a push to get rid of as many of them as possible. We think Ashton's the first push."  
  
"So, what can we do about it?"  
  
"Buffy, can you and Giles take the Slayers to Ashton. If we can nip this in the bud, then maybe they won't be so enthusiastic the next time."  
  
"Buffy nodded. "Okay, but what about?"  
  
"The prophecy," Dawn chirped. "Andrew and I have that covered."  
  
"Okay," Buffy nodded, not quite happy. Just make sure Giles checks it." She turned to Xander. "So, what do we do about Ashton?"  
  
Xander ran a hand through his hair. "I'd kind of like to put the smackdown on what's happening there. If the baddies are out to exterminate as many lines as possible, we got to react fast and hard, so maybe they'll think twice the next time, and we'll be ready the next time."  
  
"Okay, I'll take some of the Slayers and pay Ashton a little visit. But we got to cross Pennsylvania to get there. Any local help?"  
  
Xander looked at a map of the eastern states, dotted with coloured pins, a good number of them red for demonic activity."  
  
"Not much. Sure there's Slayers in the area, but if they're not running, or dead, they're busy. Kind of looks like someone on the other side is keeping them busy while they go after the families."  
  
"So, we can't expect much help. Okay, is there any one close to there that would have a better idea of what's going on?"  
  
"David Marsters." Xander pawed through some papers. "He's been keeping tabs, in a non-involvement sort of way, and been feeding me reports."   
  
"Non involvement as in standing by and watching these people die."  
  
"More like sitting in a van and watching them die." Xander handed Buffy a slip of paper with a telephone number and address on it. "Guy's in a wheel chair. Not much else he can do, so he does what he can."  
  
Buffy pursed her lips. "Okay, anything else."  
  
"Nothing, David's my only pipeline into what's going on there."  
  
"Kay, I'm taking Rona. Shannon, Violet, and Giles, maybe a couple more. Sounds like they're organized which means they gotta have a headquarters somewhere. Faith's group can meet us there." Buffy paused thinking. "How do we get there."  
  
"Andrew'll drive you to a small airstrip south of here. The Council'll have a plane waiting."  
  
"Good, half hour then we'll be ready to go."  
  
222222222222222222222222  
  
Ashton Vermont was a picturesque little town nestled in the Vermont Mountains. Buffy led the group through the airport, which was hardlly;y more than a tin shack beside a dirt strip, and looked around.   
  
"I don't suppose there's a taxi around here."  
  
"Not much call for one." Buffy whirled to see a ancient wrinkled man coming towards them, wheezing a little as he wheeled his chair. "You Buffy Summers? David Youngston, Xander told me you'd be coming."  
  
"I'm Buffy Summers," Buffy began.  
  
"Ah-huh." David took her in and then glanced over at the others. "Kids," he snorted. "They send kids to do a man's job. Not that the man's doing it is doing much. Not for the sake o not trying, but there's only so much one man can do." He glanced up at Buffy. "Well don't just stand there. My van's just outside."  
  
"How do you know Xander," Buffy asked, after making sure the others had found a place to settle into in the specially fitted van.  
  
"Oh I been poking around on the net," said David. "Came across this number for something called the 'Watcher's Web' so I dialed in. He cackled. "At first I didn't believe that anybody could believe such swill, let alone post it where others could read it. But after a while, it started me thinking. Kind of explained some of what's been happening here at night, and other places, and why all these girls seemed to gain super strength. Not that it did them much good. Wasn't long before their families started being targeted."  
  
"Targeted by what," asked Rona. "You get a good look at them?"  
  
"I saw them." David pulled into a wooded driveway. "Whatever they were they weren't exactly human"  
  
"Who's this man you said was fighting them," asked Violet.   
  
David snorted. "Dunno. Some wacko running around dressed up like some medieval knight. Whacking at them with a sword, great big sucker of a sword." The driveway opened into a small street, and as they turned into it,, a cyclist sped past them, going the other way. "That was him," stated David. "Looks like he's got number four, or maybe five. Only saw him get three others."  
  
"Three other what?"  
  
"Girls," answered David. "Y'see. They may not know they are Slayers, and they may not know how to fight, not properly, but they do put up a struggle. Sometimes they even manage to kill one of the devilspawn, not usually but sometimes. Upshot is when he gets there it's the girls who're left to be saving and by that time, they got no families. So he takes them home with him, wherever that may be."  
  
David stopped the van in front of a log cabin. "Well this is it folks Home sweet home."  
  
The girls piled out of the van, and waited for David to get his wheel chair out, and lock up, before heading for the house. The door opened and a dark haired child ran out.  
  
"Grandfather. Did you see? The Knight was here somewhere tonight. I heard his bike."  
  
"We saw Alice, we saw," David took the child onto his lap, and started wheeling up the ramp. "He saved another one tonight."  
  
"I wonder who it was," Alice said. "And who died." Her eyes traveled to take in Buffy and the rest. "Who're they," she asked.  
  
"This is Buffy Summers," David said smiling. "You remember i was talking to a man named Xander Harris. He sent them out to help. Put things right."  
  
Alice nodded, then looked back at Buffy. "You gonna help the Knight?"  
  
Buffy smiled and nodded, as she and the others, followed them into the cabin.  
  
222222222222222222222222  
  
"Okay," Buffy called a mini-scooby meeting the next morning. David was in the living room, while Alice was in the kitchen having breakfast. "Today, we spread out, become familiar with the place. Top priority, find the Knight." Buffy was tempted to say that she had an ulterior motive for finding him, but went with a more practical reason. "He's probably in a better position to know what's going on."  
  
Before she could say more, there was a loud crash in the kitchen, followed by the sound of David's wheel chair.  
  
"Alice," cried an annoyed voice.  
  
"I'm sorry Grandpa. I didn't mean to."  
  
When Buffy reached the kitchen, she saw Aliice standing beside the refrigerator. The door hung at an odd angle, and the handle was in Alice's hand.  
  
"I was just going to put the milk away and...and..." Alice's face crumbled.  
  
"There, there, aye you're not at fault." We can get Mr. Thompson in to fix it. It's okay. I shouldn't have yelled."  
  
"She's a Slayer," asked Rona, astonished. "But she's so young."  
  
"Ah-huh," David looked back at them. "Whoever, whatever, it was that did this to her was no respecter of age. Bad enough she lost all her friends at school, she lost her parents." David set the girl down on her feet. "Why don't you go play out side, it's a beautiful day. But mind, you stay in the yard hear?"  
  
"I hear you Grandpa." Alice turned and left the room. David waited until he heard the door close before turning to the girls.  
  
"I'm not really her grandpa, though she calls me that. She lived with her parents and older brother two houses down, and I knew her parents. No relations, just good friends.: His eyes grew haunted. "I heard the ruckus when they came for her family. I went outside to see what was going on, though there was precious little I could do about it. I saw the fight, and heard the screaming cries for help. Many's the time I cursed myself for being a cripple but that was the first time I really meant it. See, there was nothing I could do, except hide Alice when she came running in. They was coming for her when the Knight showed up. I was inside, wondering how I was going to protect Alice should they come through my doors, when there was the sound of this cycle skidding to a stop. When I looked out the window, there was this knight just a swinging a sword, taking off heads, left and right. I'm ashamed to say I stayed inside all the rest of that night and most of the nest day. I never lifted a finger to help. Not the Knight. Not Alice's folks."  
  
"You saved Alice," said one of the Slayers quietly. "You keep an eye on things and let us know about it. That's something."  
  
"Yeah," smiled David. "It is." But to himself, he wondered if it was enough. 


	14. Andrew starts the ball rolling

"Dougie!" Marcie shouted into the two storey ranch, as she opened the door for Andrew. "The guy from the school is here." She glanced at the girl coming up behind them. "I didn't see her there."  
  
Andrew smiled as the older boy entered the hallway from the kitchen, where he'd obviously been trying his hand at baking. From the smells that wafted in after him, Andrew didn't think he was all that success full.  
  
"You Mr. Wells," Dougie demanded.  
  
"That's me," Andrew said, and this," he indicated the girl, "is Jasmine, from the school also, though she's a student and I'm not, a student I mean. She's real good at sketching and she's going to draw a picture of the demon's that took your mother. You know, like a police artist."  
  
"They were demons. What does she need a picture for?"  
  
"Not all demons look the same. Like those Fyarl demons, who brought you to the school. From what you told Mr. Harris, they don't look like the demons who kidnapped your Mom."  
  
"Yeah, okay. Come in I guess. Marcie, you go upstairs and get Corrie. She's in her room." Doug looked at Andrew, his eyes narrowing as Marcie ran for the stairs. "You really think you can find her? Cause I don't know how long I can keep doing this. You know, keeping us from being split up. The neighbours are already wondering where our folks are."  
  
"Don't you have a father," Jasmine asked, taking off her coat and hanging it on the coat tree.  
  
"He died in Iraq. This way." Doug led them into the living room, where he left them to find seats while he went back to the kitchen. He returned shortly with a plate full of semi-scorched cookies and a pitcher of lemonade. "I'll get Corrie and Marcie."  
  
"Uhh," Andrew stopped him. "Maybe you could tell us what happened that night, and show us where it happened."  
  
"I told Mr. Harris. Didn't he tell you?"  
  
"Yes he did, but you may have remembered something since. That would be helpful."  
  
"We were in the basement." Doug led them out into the hall, where they ran into Corrie and Marcie, who were immediately told to go wait in the living room. Doug then went to a side door in the hall and pulled it open. "Down there. Light's on the left." He stood back allowing Andrew to go first.   
  
"He doesn't go first," snapped Jasmine. "I do." Suiting action to words, she slipped past Andrew and was halfway down the stairs by the time Andrew found the light switch. Jasmine jumped the last few steps, and took a quick look around before turning to Andrew. "All clear." She glared at Andrew. "You know what turning the light on like that could have done if I'd been in the middle of a fight?"  
  
"But you weren't fighting," Andrew told her. "And it would have distracted you, as it might have distracted anything watching you come down those stairs."  
  
Jasmine rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.  
  
The basement was one large cement walled room, barely furnished, an old couch, a wooden table, a chair, and a furnace and water heater. Other than that the room was bare, except for the pentagram drawn in white paint on the cement floor. On the table, a thick text lay open.  
  
"What was your Mom doing down here?" Andrew got down on his knees to examine he pentagram. He took out a magnifier for a closer look. "Salt bits here and there, scattered, Jasmine you getting this down?"  
  
Jasmine rolled her eyes. "I came to draw pretty pictures, not to be your secretary. I got the tape going, don't worry."  
  
Andrew nodded, and went back to his examination. "Salt lines not following pentagram lines." He stood up and faced Doug, who was standing beside the stairs watching. "My guess is they did, but later someone tried sweeping it up, not doing so great a job. What was your Mother doing down here."  
  
"I don't know," said Dougie. "All I know is I heard something and when I came down Mom was struggling with these demons, then they disappeared."  
  
"Marcie and Corrie, were they down here?"  
  
"I dunno," Doug shrugged. "They may have followed me down."  
  
Andrew nodded, and looked around some more. Not that there was much to see. Except for the metallic object poking out from under the couch. Andrew pulled it out. An ordinary dustpan, nothing special, except that the handle was twisted. Like it had been wrenched out of a very tight grip. There was spots of blood on what was left of the handle, and a dark ichor like substance on the blade.  
  
Andrew eyed Doug. "I think I'd like to talk to your sisters now." He started for the stairs. "Jas, could you keep our host entertained and here, till I come back."  
  
Hey," Doug started. "You got questions for them, you ask when I'm there."  
  
"Why , you got something to hide?"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Like all this was you're doing."  
  
"What...how can you?"  
  
Andrew held up the dustpan. "Jas, ever think of a dustpan as a weapon when going up against a demon?"  
  
"Nope," the young slayer said. "You mean he...?"  
  
"You drew the pentagram didn't you Doug? It should have worked, except that you were using that book, the one on the table over there, which really you shouldn't have, cause it's really really full of errors, so many that it would be surprising if it did." Doug's didn't say anything, but he backed up a step, looking scared. "It didn't work right away, did it Doug," Andrew pressed on. "Nothing happened, or so you thought. Isn't that right Doug? At least nothing happened right away, cause part of the spell was wrong. Except that it did work, only you weren't here when it did. It didn't work, not right away, so you went away and did something else, didn't you. So when your Mother came down, she saw the pentagram and the salt, and maybe other things, so she decided to clean up. That's when it worked, isn't it. Only your Mother had already swept up the salt, destroying the binding spell that would have kept her safe. So when you heard the noise and came down to investigate, you saw your Mother fighting the demon, using the dustpan as a weapon, cause that's what she had in her hand at the time. That's what happened isn't it?"  
  
Doug looked defiant, and stared at Andrew. A stance that seemed to last forever until finally he broke, tears streaming down his face. He nodded.  
  
"How – how did you know?"  
  
  
  
Andrew showed the handle of his magnifier, particularily where a faintly bluish crystal was glowing. "Magick has a signature, a resonance, which can be picked up by other objects, like this crystal. When you tried to get power from Dawn, this stone glowed like it is now. When I took it out of my pocket, I spelled it to block out my signature, and show only that magick that was already present. It's not exact, but when you wouldn't let me talk to your sisters in private, I kind of knew."  
  
"You gotta believe me, I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't know."  
  
"We'll talk about that later. Right now, I need to see the summoning spells you used. "  
  
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Buffy would kill him if she knew what he was doing, so Andrew supposed it was a good thing she was out of town. The Smoking Sea Bass, what a name for a bar in Ohio, was, to say a word, smoky, and Andrew coughed as he pulled out his ID, and used the wallet to fan some of the smoke away as he entered looking around. He fervently hoped that this would be a short, and very infrequent, visit, but it was the only Demon Bar he knew of in Cleveland. Which was another thing he was sure Buffy would not be happy about. But he had made promises, and he didn't suppose Buffy could be too upset over that. Well at least not as long as he kept Dawn safe, and hat danger could she be in, sitting at home, watching TV with Caridad. Well there was the hellmouth, but that was not under his apartment building, he fervently hoped., as he headed for the bar.  
  
"Little Man!" Startled, Andrew looked around to see one of the Fyarls, he'd employed, waving at him. "Come here, little man," the Fyarl grinned.  
  
"Andrew," he said as he approached the demon's table. "My name is Andrew, not little man."  
  
"Androo," the Fyarl said, "Little Man. My name Ras. Good to see you again."  
  
"Ras," gulped Andrew. "Uh, you seen Scoops around?"  
  
"Scoop?" Ras spat on the straw covered floor. "What you want with Scoop for?"  
  
Before he could answer, a human waitress showed up and Andrew ordered a tonic water for himself and a beer for Ras..  
  
"I hear if anyone knows anything Scoops would know." Andrew fished inside his pocket and pulled out the sketches of the demons Jasmine had drawn that morning, and showed them to Ras. "These demons kidnapped a human. I sort of promised I'd find her and get her back to her children."  
  
Ras studied the sketches and threw them down in disgust. "Prexis, common muscle," he said disgustedly. "No mind. Not like Fyarl. Minions."  
  
The waitress returned with their drinks, and when she left Andrew asked hopefully. "Do you know anything about them? Where I could find them?"  
  
Ras snorted and shook his massive head. "Could find...maybe?"  
  
Andrew sighed, pulled out his wallet and placed a twenty on the table. "You think you could find Scoops and bring him to my apartment?" Andrew placed a pasteboard card with his home address and number on it. "There'll be another twenty in it for you, when you deliver."  
  
Ras snatched up the twenty. "Two days," he snarled. "You want him hurt? Free?"  
  
"No," Andrew said hastily. "I just need to ask him a couple questions. So don't hurt him."  
  
"No hurt, two days." Ras looked signicantly at his now empty glass and Andrew out the price of another on the table, before making a hasty get a way.  
  
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"You're back." Caridad looked up from the TV when Andrew poked his head into their living room. "Dawn's gone to bed, and the wards are set. Xander phoned."  
  
"Uh, what did he want?"  
  
"Checking to see that Dawn was safe." Caridad rolled her eyes. "I told him she was fine, which seemed to make him happy. Anyway, he's going to be staying at the school for the next few days, and wants us to keep an eye on his apartment."  
  
"Okay, we can do that." Caridad turned her eyes back to her program and Andrew went up to his room. A quick glance at the crystal on the table beside his bed showed that it was glowing normally, which meant that the wards were functioning normally, picking up Dawn's energy levels, and nothing else.   
  
Sitting down at his table, Andrew engaged the Apple IIC he kept there for quick notes, and began on his log. Describing the day's activities, and ending with the following.  
  
"Jasmine and I confiscated all the magickal books and stuff we could find, but it may be time to consider an educational program for people like Doug." 


	15. The Warehouse Fight

"B, where you want us?" Faith spoke into her cell as Robin drove past the ASHTON VERMONT sign, and around the bend leading into town. They had passed the first buildings when a bike shot out from no where, forcing Robin to slam on the brakes and Faith into the windshield.  
  
[Faith,] shouted Buffy. [Faith, what's going on?]  
  
"Some damn biker, shot out of an alley, fastern a bat outta hell," snarled the dark slayer.   
  
[A biker? What was he wearing?]  
  
"What was he wearing?" Faith resisted the urge to stare at her cell phone. "I'm no fashion pate, long white coat, silver hat, honking great sword. I dunno. The guy must be completely nuts."  
  
[Where'd he go? Can you catch him?]  
  
"Catch him? Whaffor?"  
  
[I need to talk to him.]  
  
Faith glanced at Robin. "Queen B wants to talk to the biker that just ran us off. Think you can catch him?"  
  
"I can try," Robin said savagely as he floored the pedal in the direction the biker had taken. "Got me a few words to say to him myself."  
  
It ended up being a cross town chase, which wasn't saying all that much, which ended up in a warehouse, they had reached just in time to see the oddly dressed biker crash his bike through the door. Faith was out and running almost before Robin had come to a full stop.   
  
One look through the door was enough to send Faith running back to the car and her cell phone, which she had left on the dash.  
  
"Hey B," she shouted after speed dialing Buffy's cell. "You want to talk to this guy, you get your ass down here pronto."  
  
[What?]  
  
"Your Biker Knight just crashed into a whole warehouse full of Vamps and none of them look happy to see him." Faith gave directions to the warehouse before dropping the cell onto her seat, and reaching under the dash for some stakes.  
  
"You're not going in," Robin said sharply. "If there's as many vamps as you say, its better to wait for Buffy to get here, so we can plan how we're going to do this."  
  
"I don't go in that guy's gonna get slaughtered," Faith said grimly. ""From what I saw he's doing major damage with that sword o' his but that's not going to last long." Faith grinned. "Besides, I got a hankering to know why he took on a whole warehouse full of vamps single handedly."  
  
"I'm going with you," Robin said in a voice that said he would go in whether Faith liked it or not.  
  
"So're we," said Sarah, who had become the spokes person for the New York trio."  
  
"Count me in," said Kennedy.  
  
"No," Faith said firmly. "You're not ready for this. Not yet. Kennedy, you and Red have babysitting duty, keep em here and wait for Buffy."  
  
"You think we can't fight?"  
  
"I think you're not ready for this kind of action," Faith said.  
  
"So how're we supposed to get ready if we're gonna be sidelined?"  
  
"She's got a point," said Robin. "We can use the help."  
  
Faith considered. Part of her wanted to drop kick the trio into submission, but as satisfying as that might be there just wasn't time, and there wasn't time to argue either. So it looked like the trio were going to take a walk through the fire tonight.  
  
"Kay, Willow, you be okay out here alone. Just until Buffy gets here?"  
  
"Kennedy, I need you in there. Lucy, you go with Robin. Once you're through the door you go left, Jocy 'n me will go right. Our job is to keep a distraction going, side track as many vamps away from the Knight, and Kennedy and Sarah."  
  
"Why can't we fight," demanded Sarah. "Dunno about her but..."  
  
"You shut up and listen," Faith snapped at her. "You'll get plenty of chances to show your stuff" Faith turned to Kennedy. "Your job is to find out what, if anything, the vamps are guarding in there. Get it and get out quick." Kennedy nodded and Faith turned her attention back to the New York trio.   
  
"Listen up and listen good. I teamed you with experienced fighters, but there won't be time for much in the way of babysitting. These aren't your normal hood gangsters. One, they're stronger and faster. Two, you don't kill them, put a stake through their hearts, they'll sure as hell will kill you. So, don't get killed and don't get your partner killed. You hang back a bit, and if your partner says run you get your asses back out here, Capiche?" The trio nodded, and each went to stand beside their partner, stakes gripped tightly in their hands. "Good. "First me, then Robin, then Kennedy. Red, you make sure the cars locked up tight with you on the inside. No heroics people. Let's go."  
  
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Nathaniel Rosenberg swung the sword, two handedly, and the blade decapitated three vampires and sliced the arms off two more, beside various fingers and knuckles. He hadn't had time to yank his shield off the motorcycle before the surprise had worn off, but fortunately his Armour was making it difficult for any of the devil spawn to do any major damage to him, not that they didn't try. Sometimes, it took a few wild slashed to back them off a bit. Still he was hard pressed, and if the Good Lord chose to bring him home that day, he was ready.  
  
He as almost surprised when the pressure on him eased as a commotion began at the door behind him. He wished he had time for a quick look as the largest vampire he had ever seen took a dive at his dancing legs.  
  
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"Way to go Jocy," Faith said as she kicked a vamp. "But you're telegraphing, giving him a chance to get ready." She ducked and planted a foot in the vamp ahead of her before dusting him. "Do a quick in and out. No need to dance." She whirled and staked a vamp who was backing Jocy up a bit. "Like that."  
  
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"Dunno what she was thinking," muttered Robin, as he staked another vamp, and took a desperate glance around at Lucy, who, was trying to find an opening where she could drive in her stake. "Teaming me up with an amateur. Gonna get us both killed, he said as Lucy managed to drive her stake home. "Good job," he grunted as he drove another spiked fist into a vampire.  
  
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Kennedy and Sarah kept clear of the main fighting, moving around the edges to see what was on the other side. Not that they were out of the fighting, as Kennedy drop kicked a vamp so that Sarah could stake it.  
  
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Nathaniel Rosenberg was aware that the fight dynamic had changes, and that he was no longer the only focus of the fight. Quick glances had shown him the three teams hat had entered. Not that he had the time to discover their motives. He was merely satisfied that they were not adding to the foe."  
  
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Willow jumped as bright lights flashed through the car windows, and a van pulled up beside. Buffy soon exited and Willow opened the door, as she approached. "What's up," Buffy demanded.  
  
Willow hastened to explain,the situation as best as she could, and Buffy strode to the entrance, peering inside. What she saw was a mess. Dust everywhere, fighting forms everywhere. But it looked like Faith and her group were holding her own, as was the Knight character. "Okay," she shouted as she went back to the group of Slayers standing between the vehicles. "Let's finish this thing."  
  
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Nathaniel Rosenberg grunted as he swung the sword at another vamp. Who immediately turned to dust revealing grinning dark haired girl just behind him. Who would be minus something if he hadn't managed to turn the swing up and she hadn't been able to leap back at the same instant.   
  
"That's no way to thank a lady," Faith grinned before spinning around to take on another.  
  
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Buffy led the charge into the warehouse and it wasn't long before the fighting wrapped up, either with a mass dust party, or the mass exodus of the opposition. But the only people left standing were the good guys.  
  
"Hey B," grinned Faith. "Welcome to the party." She took a fast look around. "Robin, Sarah, Jocy, Kennedy, Lucy, you guys alright?"   
  
"Yo," called out Robin, emerging from a corner, followed by a shaken Lucy. Jocy poked her head up from behind some crates.  
  
"Where's Kennedy and Sarah?"  
  
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Kennedy grunted as she was slammed against the wall, and her eyes widened as the vamp's knife flashed towards her. She felt a sliding pressure just above her breasts, and she stared as a humumgous blade flashed up past her eyes, severing the vamps knife hand and causing it to leap back and the knife to clatter aside. She didn't feel the wound, or the blood, as she watched the Knight step forward and with one slash take the vamp's head off.  
  
"Your friend needs help." The Knight brushed past her and stalked up the hallway, they had entered. With a quick glance to make sure she was alright, the knight moved on, leaving Kennedy to stare after him, before she could thing to look around for bleeding Sarah who was slumped against the wall. Kennedy rushed to her. "Think you can make it out of here? Sounds like the main fightings over."  
  
Sarah nodded. "What are you gonna do?"  
  
"See what this jokers up to. Tell them where we are."  
  
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"Sarah," Faith spotted her as she emerged into the main room. "Look B, you can be pissed later. Right now, one o' my teams hurt and that comes first." She whirled away from the senior slayer, who was taking her to task for taking inexperienced girls into the fight.  
  
"When," Buffy glared after her. "When does it get to be my turn."  
  
"Where's Kennedy?" Faith ignored Buffy's outburst as she started inventorying Sarah's injuries. Which included a broken arm, some visible bruising and, thankfully, not much else. Sarah nodded at the hallway behind her.   
  
"She's going after the Knight."  
  
"B," Faith called. "You heard?"  
  
"I heard," Buffy growled as she motioned for Giles and the others to follow her. Robin was eager for more, but the New York Trio hung back. Buffy cast a glare at Faith before entering the hallway.  
  
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Kennedy stared. She had followed the Knight further up the hallway, and down a flight of stares, taking out the odd vamp, but keeping him in sight. Finally he had come to a double doored room, and kicked it open.  
  
Inside it looked like a Chapel. Polished oaken Pews lined either side of a black carpeted aisle, that ended before a black cloth draped altar. On which lay the nude body of a young girl, barely into her teens. Hanging above that altar, glistening from the light of the candelabra, was a blackened cross, upside down. Hanging from the cross, in an insane parody of the Crucifiction, was the body of a young boy.  
  
Kennedy stood and stared. She had never been one for religion, particularly one that looked down upon her lifestyle, but this was just sick. She didn't notice as the Knight dusted the last vampire. She didn't notice Buffy and the others, including Faith and the New York trio, crowding into the room behind her. She barely heard Giles' exclamation.  
  
"Good Lord. A Black Mass." 


End file.
